A little bit of our story.
In 1990, a group of compassionate and concerned volunteers began to lay the foundation for all of the work that has been done in our community. At the end of 2023, we had completed 111 homes and worked with 185 families to provide homeownership solutions. In December of 2021, tornadoes impacted our state, significantly impacting the housing landscape of our community. Since then, our affiliate has built 20 new homes, and is in the process of construction on 11 more. Thousands of volunteers, staff members, donors, ReStore shoppers, raffle participants, partner organizations, and numerous others have empowered us to continue making affordable housing a reality in Bowling Green.
Bourbon Raffle FAQs
Where does money raised from the raffles go?
Money raised from our raffles goes toward the building of Habitat for Humanity of Bowling Green/Warren County (HFHBGWC) homes. There are several expenses involved in organizing a successful bourbon raffle and we must take those expenses out of the total dollars raised. Examples of expenses include advertising for raffles, bourbon purchasing, materials such as tickets, and costs associated with delivery of bourbon to the winners.
Is HFHBGWC licensed to offer raffles?
Yes! HFHBGWC keeps a current Kentucky Charitable Gaming License (#ORG0002678) and is required to follow all laws and regulations associated with that license. The following states are excluded from raffle participation (Alaska, Hawaii, New Jersey, and West Virginia).
Is your bourbon donated?
We have received a few donated bottles of bourbon across our bourbon raffles. The bourbon we raffle is purchased by HFHBGWC. We must comply with state regulations that require our bourbon to be purchased from retailers, wholesalers, or distillers licensed in the state of Kentucky. We’re always working to track down specific bourbon and travel throughout the state to purchase it.
Why are the winning tickets chosen from a tumbler instead of electronically?
Our Kentucky Charitable Gaming License requires us to use sequentially numbered paper tickets. We use a tumbler to draw winners from those tickets. We track the purchased tickets on the ticket log (visible on our website) and each ticket number corresponds with the numbered paper ticket. There is often a KY Charitable Gaming officer present during our drawing to ensure we follow the correct licensing guidelines.
How do the winners receive the bourbon?
In most cases, the bourbon will be insured and shipped through licensed partners of HFHBGWC, or delivered in person by staff, board members, or volunteers. We can ship/deliver to any US state EXCEPT Alaska, Hawaii, New Jersey, or West Virginia. Sorry West Virginia and New Jersey, that’s a West Virginia and New Jersey thing, not our choice. Alaska and Hawaii just cost too much to ship or deliver. Some winners choose to visit our office and pick up their bourbon. Our staff loves meeting the winners!
Why bourbon?
Kentucky has a long and rich history of bourbon production, and it has become highly collectible and sought after. We put in the work to find collectible bourbon and those who value it enjoy having a chance at winning a bottle. In addition, housing is expensive. HFHBGWC receives grants and donations, but it’s not enough to cover our community need. HFHBGWC bourbon raffles are our most successful fundraiser and help us provide affordable housing for those who would otherwise not attain it. We like to think bourbon collectors rest easy knowing that their raffle purchase makes a difference in the lives of families we serve, whether they win a bottle or not.
How do I know this is legit?
There are lots of bourbon raffles on social media. We hope our history with these events as well as our demonstration of all applicable licenses helps to alleviate this concern. We also suggest visiting our website www.habitatbg.org to see if the raffle you see in your news feed is ours. Also, please feel free to call. We can be reached at 270-843-6027, or email at matt@habitatbg.org if you have any questions.
KY Charitable Gaming License #ORG0002678
