A group of players from the Kenai Peninsula Saints Pop Warner program gather around the ticket drawing at the Soldotna Trustworthy Youth Raffle event Friday, Aug. 23, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)

A group of players from the Kenai Peninsula Saints Pop Warner program gather around the ticket drawing at the Soldotna Trustworthy Youth Raffle event Friday, Aug. 23, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)

Trustworthy boat raffle sends $15K to youth sports

The funds also go to help the Wounded Heroes event.

The annual Trustworthy Hardware Willie Boat raffle event brought in $15,000 for local youth sports and sent home a lucky winner with a new Willie drift boat Friday afternoon in Soldotna.

The boat raffle, now in its 11th year, sold 1,000 tickets for $50 a ticket in 2019, helping to bring in $50,000 of fundraising in less than three weeks. After expenses, Trustworthy Hardware co-owner Scott Miller said $15,000 went to funding youth sports for the community.

The event is primarily a fundraiser for Soldotna youth sports, a list that includes Soldotna Little League, youth girls soccer, Pop Warner football, Whalers wrestling, Soldotna Silver Salmon swimming and the Soldotna Youth Rodeo.

“This is a really good event,” Miller said. “It’s just been a great week.”

The funds also go to help the Wounded Heroes event, a sub-unit of the Wounded Warrior’s nationwide program that brings veterans out for a day of fishing on the Kenai River. The Wounded Heroes event is run by the Kenai River Foundation.

Miller said the event has brought in $140,000 over 11 years, along with the fishing boats that the Willie Boats company has provided each year.

This year, a Willie drift boat, with a motor provided by Peninsula Power Sports, was raffled off with help from the Kenai Peninsula Saints Pop Warner program and members of the Soldotna Silver Salmon swim program. The lucky ticket was that of Girdwood resident Dan Kuber, who was told by phone of his ticket Friday. Kuber said he has bought a ticket in the boat raffle for “eight or nine” years.

“It’s more to help the kids,” Kuber said “But I didn’t expect to win, so I’m stoked.”

Kuber said his two sons currently play little league baseball in Girdwood, and said the money being raised for youth sports makes a big difference in children’s lives.

“It’s why I put in for it originally,” Kuber said.

Kuber said he plans to be using the boat to fish for silvers on the Twenty Mile and Placer rivers.

Miller said both he and his brother and co-owner Brian have been active in the Soldotna Little League program for years, both as players in their youth and later as coaches. Miller said their late father Paul Miller, who passed away in 2016, played a role with other community organizers in leading the way in youth sports.

“Little league is near and dear to our hearts because we all grew up doing it,” Miller said. “This year, we kind of focused on the younger crowd.”

With funds needed for high school sports travel, new uniforms, field management and equipment, Miller said the money being raised for the various sports programs is fundamental to establishing healthy, active lifestyles for children. Raffling off a boat only helped pull in more interest.

“We see the need in the community,” Miller said. “We had this opportunity with the (Willie Boats), and said, ‘Hey we want to get more boats’. It gave us a great opportunity.”

The Willie drift boat waits to be won on a ticket drawing at the Soldotna Trustworthy Youth Raffle event Friday, Aug. 23, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)

The Willie drift boat waits to be won on a ticket drawing at the Soldotna Trustworthy Youth Raffle event Friday, Aug. 23, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)

More in News

Rep. Justin Ruffridge, a Soldotna Republican who co-chairs the House Education Committee, speaks in favor overriding a veto of Senate Bill 140 during floor debate of a joint session of the Alaska State Legislature on Monday. (Mark Sabbatini/Juneau Empire)
By 1 vote, lawmakers sustain Dunleavy veto of education bill

The bipartisan bill included $680 increase to per-student funding

The Sterling Highway crosses the Kenai River near the Russian River Campground on March 15, 2020, near Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Russian River Campground closed for construction

The campground is expected to reopen on June 2

A man fishes in the Kenai River on July 16, 2018, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Peninsula Clarion/file)
Fish and Game announces series of closures and restrictions for king salmon fisheries

Cook Inlet king salmon stocks are experiencing a prolonged period of poor productivity, the department said

Montessori materials sit on shelves in a classroom at Soldotna Montessori Charter School on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Education debate draws state attention to peninsula charter schools

Dunleavy would like to see a shift of authority over charter school approvals from local school districts to the state

The Nikiski Senior Center stands under sunlight in Nikiski, Alaska, on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Support available for community caregivers

Nikiski Senior Center hosts relaunched Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program

Flags flank the entrance to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office on Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Dunleavy vetoes bipartisan education bill

Senate Bill 140 passed the House by a vote of 38-2 and the Senate by a vote of 18-1 last month

The Alaska State Capitol on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
House passes bill altering wording of sex crimes against children

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer

Ben Meyer and Brandon Drzazgowski present to the Soldotna and Kenai Chambers of Commerce at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Watershed Forum gives update on streambank restoration

The watershed forum and other organizations are working to repair habitat and mitigate erosion

The entrance to the Kenai Police Department, as seen in Kenai, Alaska, on April 1, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai resident arrested on charges of arson

Kenai Police and Kenai Fire Department responded to a structure fire near Mountain View Elementary

Most Read