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HomeNewsArchivesLocal Philanthropist Wins Raffle Prize He Tried to Give Away

Local Philanthropist Wins Raffle Prize He Tried to Give Away

April 17, 2007 – They say what goes around comes around, but the hand of irony did not go unnoticed Saturday when local philanthropist Ricardo Charaf won the Chevrolet Crossfire he had participated in donating to the Humane Society of St. Thomas' raffle at the Caribbean Auto Mart.
Susan Chandler, society capital campaign and fund-raising manager, said laughter could be heard all around the automobile lot when Charaf's ticket was pulled, announcing him the winner.
Chandler said she had asked a young girl in the audience to pick a number out of a hat and voila! it was Charaf's.
She said Charaf and his wife, Josefina, "were in complete shock." Not only did they win the vehicle, but they won what is likely the island's most coveted license plate: "AF 1," the first plate in the society's Animal Friendly series, started in 2005.
The license plate was donated by Jan Trevalyan, who outbid Charaf for it at the society's 2005 Valentine Ball. After Trevalyan won the plate with a $20,000 bid, he and Charaf came up with the idea of purchasing the Crossfire and adding the plate to it.
The vehicle was purchased by the Charafs, Bart Kavanagh, Betty Saks and Trevalyan in cooperation with Caribbean Auto Mart.
Tickets for the vehicle were sold for $1,000 each, and only 100 tickets were sold. The raffle generated $93,000, Chandler said, which will go toward the society's capital campaign to help offset building costs.
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