South Lake Tahoe Rotary abandons car raffle; asks for community help

For many years, the Rotary Club of South Lake Tahoe has given away a car during their annual Great Car Raffle, but that tradition has come to an end.

Club President Dave Jinkens announced Wednesday that the raffle doesn't raise the money needed to give away almost $50,000 annually to the community through scholarships, donations and grants.

There are two reasons Jinkens said the club had to abandon the raffle. After buying a car and covering the cost of the raffle, proceeds weren't what they once were and they've had to start dipping into reserves to meet donation requests.

The State of California amended their charitable raffle law where sports teams could have a raffle and split proceeds 50-50 with a cause. All other charities, such as the Rotary Club, fall into a 90-10 rule, where at least 90 percent of
the gross receipts from raffle ticket sales must be used to benefit or support beneficial or charitable purposes in California. The club found it hard to sell enough car raffle tickets to give away 90% after purchasing the car and they want Sacramento to change their rules for non-profits to match the new rules sports teams can abide by.

“The inability to conduct the Great Car Raffle negatively impacts community organizations and individuals who have historically depended on our support,” said Jinkens. “If professional sports organizations are given less restrictive rules to operate a raffle, real charities should be given the same rules. This is not a partisan issue but rather one of creating a level playing field for the conduct of all raffles in California.”

He asked for people to write Governor Brown and your Assemblyman and State Senator urging them to sponsor legislation to create a level playing field for the operation of raffles in California for real charity providers. They can be reached as follow:

Governor Jerry Brown - State Capitol, Suite 1173, Sacramento, CA 95817
State Senator Ted Gaines - State Capitol, Suite 3070, Sacramento, CA 95814
Assemblyman Frank Bigelow - State Capitol, P.O. Box 942849, Sacramento, CA 94249

The club is looking for other ways to raise money, and any people or businesses are interested in supporting the Club’s charitable work in our community, donations will be accepted at P.O. Box 19517. South Lake Tahoe, CA 96151.