Confessions of a Drugstore Car Guy

Now that the 19th Annual Alzheimer’s Show is in the books it’s time to look toward the Big Two-O. It’s a landmark, right, and we need to do something appropriately awe-some, right? Each of the last few years have been more successful than the one be-fore; more cars, more money, more kudos each year. That track record has raised the bar pretty high and an escalation worthy of such a win streak could be hard to pull off. Not to worry, I’ve got just the gimmick! So how about we (HMCCC members) build and raffle off a hot rod? A Raffle Rod! Great idea, huh?

Over the last 20 years HMCCC has raised nearly a quarter-of-a-million-dollars for the Alzheimer’s Association and it would be very neat to kick things up a notch. I don’t know how much money we could raise with a raffle featuring a car as a prize but I’ll bet it would be a lot. I have done some research on using raffles as fundraisers and fund raising gurus all say you get more bang for your buck from a raffle than from other fundraising activities.

I think with a project like a Raffle Rod a few basic principles are important, the main one being K.I.S.S. (keep it sensibly simple). Also, keep it Classic or Old School and remember Occam’s Razor: Most of the time the simplest solution is the best one.

These concepts work well with the idea of building a ’32 Ford roadster. Not only is the ’32 roadster hi-boy a hot rod icon, it really is a pretty basic vehicle; fewer parts mean fewer things to go wrong. Also, like the small block Chevy engine (which, of course, we’ll use) parts and services are abundant and less expensive.

At our recent get-together to present HMCCC’s 2011 check to the Alzheimer’s Association there was a discussion about how much money we (HMCCC) raises for them (A.A.) with so little effort on their part. They (A.A.)told us (HMCCC) we had been giving them more money for longer than any other organization in this region. In 2012, considering how much more money we could raise with the Raffle Rod project, I think the Alzheimer’s Association will gladly pitch-in. As a matter of fact, we need their help to make the project a success.

A visit to the Alzheimer’s Association’s website (www.alz.org) makes it clear how a Raffle Rod campaign would benefit from their help. They have a national organization with a fund-raising apparatus in place. They have the ability to collect and process donations on-line, they have media contacts and various tools for publicizing their fund-raising projects. We can reach-out to friends and neighbors, pound the pavement, to sell raffle tickets. The Alzheimer’s Association can reach a national audience on the web, in the media and with their newsletters.

Those fund-raising gurus I’ve been consulting (via Google) say that a good raffle limits the number of tickets offered to entice buyers with better odds of winning. It also prices tickets high enough to discourage buyers from “buying” a win. I figure the Raffle Rod project should offer 5000 tickets at $25/ticket. The only deal offered would be five tickets for $100. This scenario would produce between $100,000 (all tickets sold @ 5/$100) and $125,000 (all tickets sold @ $25).

There are legal and regulatory issues that need to be addressed, including state and county permits, interim insurance, and provisions to meet tax requirements. There are administrative issues like how to manage accounting and reporting requirements. And there are emotional issues like who can and who can’t participate in the raffle. There is also the immediate issue of funding the project. Where will the money to buy the parts come from?

The biggest expense in the Raffle Rod project; the entire basis for it, in fact, is acquisition of a chassis. They are available and from vendors in the region but they’re not cheap. It’s easy to say the success and the quality of the entire project rests on this chassis. A Stage III, “rolling” chassis includes front and rear suspension, steering, brakes, the differential and all the bracketry to attach everything else to. Add a body, engine, transmission, etc., etc. and you’ve got a hot rod!

Although the 20th annual Alzheimer’s Show is 11 months away that is very little time in terms of a project like the Raffle Rod. Lots of issues need to be addressed in a very short amount of time. The Raffle Rod needs to be ready to roll-out not in September, in time for the drawing, but in the Spring. The car needs to hit the Cruise-in and Show circuit as soon as possible; the more it is seen, the more people will want to win it!

Anybody who’s ever put a car together knows that the list of what you need is see-mingly endless. To build the Raffle Rod were going to need all that stuff and maybe more. Many of us have parts laying around; things that didn’t get used on the last project, or that didn’t work when the project changed direction in mid-stream. Maybe we’ll be able to use some of that stuff. For sure we’ll be able to use your help.

At the October meeting we discussed the possibility of the Raffle Rod project and I was sent forth to learn and report back everything we need to know, do, and be pre-pared for. But they gave me until the November meeting to get that done. No problem; I’ll get what I can and make up the rest—the essence of hot rodding is improvisation!

I think every car guy has (or has had) the itch to build a real Classic, Old School Hot Rod and I think building the Raffle Rod and raising money for Alzheimer’s research is a great way scratch that itch. Think how good it’ll feel to see someone win the car we helped become a reality and how proud we’ll all be to make a pile of money for the Alz-heimer’s Association.

Let’s make the 20th Annual Alzheimer’s Show the one no one ever forgets!