Exec's dream car being raffled off to rescue orphans in Asia
A 2010 Camaro SS is the prize; the donor’s faith is the motivator.
The car is being given away in the form of a raffle. 100% of the proceeds will go to Asia’s Hope, a multidenominational, grassroots organization founded in 2001 dedicated to rescuing orphaned children at high risk of sexual and economic exploitation in Southeast Asia.
Asia’s Hope operates eight orphanages in Thailand and ten in Cambodia. Each child living at an Asia’s Hope orphan home receives long term care and all the benefits of a loving family: shelter, acceptance, medical care, an education, life skills training and most importantly, the transforming power of hope.
The raffle will run until Feb.13, 2011, with single raffle tickets available for $20; 3 for $50; or 7 for $100.
The paths that led Wright, president of Goshen, IN-based Starcraft Bus, to his idea to give away the car are traceable to his childhood. Three of Wright’s six siblings were adopted from Korea. Today, he and his wife are raising two daughters and four sons, including an adopted Russian boy. And then there was the book, Radical, which he read last summer. In it, megachurch pastor David Platt examines how modern-day American culture, built on self-reliance, is having a negative impact on the gospel message, which emphasizes reliance on Christ.
Wright, who was raised in a Christian home and “committed” himself to Christ three years ago, began examining his life; soon he found himself thinking less about himself and more about orphans. “I was familiar with Asia’s Hope because we were made aware of them through our church and had donated to them. I knew how Asia’s Hope stretched the dollars they received to benefit children. And when they heard of the idea for a raffle, they ran with it.”
Wright’s decision to give away a prized possession confused some colleagues and friends who wondered if he had “gone off the deep end” and was motivated by some sense of guilt for achieving achieved success as a business executive.
“This provided some great opportunities for discussion on why give and how much is enough,” says Wright. “I’m more driven than ever, and not in a legalistic sense, to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”