Deon Robinson Collects Ford Ranger from Rotary
Deon Robinson is the lucky winner of the 2017 Ford Ranger Pickup truck in the Rotary Club raffle. The raffle has been ongoing for almost a decade and was the brainchild of Rotarian Francis Woods. While it gives a ticket holder the opportunity to win a brand new vehicle, it also helps in the mission of the club through its many programs. Today, News Five caught up with the Rotarian Yvette Burks and the excited winner at the Belize Estate and Company Compound off Slaughterhouse Road in Belize City. Robinson says this is the third time he has purchased a ticket and had a feeling that he was going to win.
Deon Robinson
Deon Robinson, Winner, 2017 Ford Ranger Pickup
“My wife put on the TV and same time the draw came up and I saw my name. I was happy, but I felt that I was gonna win. [Laugh] It feels very good. I always wanted a brand new vehicle and I hoped to one day buy one for myself, but now I don’t have to buy one.”
Reporter
“How long ago did you enter the raffle?”
Deon Robinson
“About a month and a half ago. I normally just do it as a donation, not thinking that I would have won, but it so happens that I won this time.”
Duane Moody
“So just one ticket? This is the first time you are supporting the cause?”
Deon Robinson
“This is my third time supporting the cause and I bought one ticket.”
Yvette Burks
Yvette Burks, Rotarian
“A lot of raffles is about how many tickets I can sell, let’s sell five thousand, let’s sell whatever. We thought we would do it where we would allow Belizeans who could afford to at the time and who are privileged enough to afford to and wanted to support our causes to give a decent contribution, a decent donation, knowing that it’s a donation but also with a really spectacular opportunity to win a fabulous prize. Only one person can win, but when it is a chance in a thousand, those are pretty awesome odds and so luckily for us, the fundraiser has been quite phenomenal.”
Duane Moody
“You guys met your target and it will be used to fund all the different programs that Rotary does.”
Yvette Burks
“That’s correct. Normally it is a sixty-forty share because it is the Gift of Life our flagship project—and of course my love—is a very expensive program. So that gets kind of a lion share of our profits and the other forty percent will normally be split with the other projects that we do and of course all our projects are meaningful. We do feeding programs, we do scholarships, we build houses, we give away wheelchairs and that’s only to name a few projects that we are involved in.”
The value of the pickup is at about seventy-one thousand dollars. Four other persons won consolation prizes.
