CALGARY -- The 27th edition of the STARS Lottery has just opened the doors to its new show home in Lethbridge, showcasing a unique architectural style to raise money that literally saves lives.
The Lethbridge dream home is a 278 square meter (3000 square foot) bungalow valued at $922,100.
The challenge, said Van Arbor Homes owner Val Lowen, whose company built it, was creating a design that incorpated a variety of styles and sensibilities that put the 'dream' in 'dream home'.
“We’re always challenged because it’s got to be a dream home," Val Lowen said, in an interview with CTV News. "So then we’re challenged to (also) come up with something new and different every year."
Lowen said this year's home is a fusion of different styles.
"It’s a prairie style home with a real nod to Asian influence," she said, "and architecture as well as minimalism," a sensibility, she said, that's all about not needing as much space as we think we do.
Lowen added that she’s proud to have worked with STARS for the last three years and is excited for next year.
The money raised by the lottery provides funding for the STARS air ambulance, as well as equipment across Western Canada.
Base director paramedic Jeff Morris said the support he’s felt and seen in Alberta is what makes it possible.
“With the ten million dollars that we get, that provides service for one whole year for one base," Morris said. "That’s about a third of our funding for continued operations in the province of Alberta.”
The air ambulance is basically a hovering I.C.U.: it carries blood, oxygen masks and tanks and a variety of other emergency equipment.
Morris wants people to know that even the smallest donations can save lives later on.
One of those saved lives was on hand to share his story with the crowd.
In 2018, STARS V.I.P. (Very Important Patient) Clayton Wayne Orr had a heart attack working on this tractor.
If it wasn't for STARS, Orr said, he wouldn't be here today.
“I crashed three times on the air ambulance going out to Calgary and instead of two hours it took only 40 minutes and with the expertise and the speed, my life was saved because of the air ambulance," he said.
Orr felt a lot of gratitude towards the paramedics for saving his live, but also because they took the time to call his wife and let her know everything that was going on. Orr has been a supporter of STARS for a long time; his mother also had to be flown in by the helicopter years earlier. He said STARS is an important link to the community.
The early bird ticket cutoff date is Feburary 27, while the early bird draw date is March 13.
The final cutoff for ticket sales is March 19, while the final draws will be held on April 2.
