Every year, one lucky winner rides out of the Florida Strawberry Festival in style.
That’s because Unity in the Community, a local, volunteer-operated charity, partners with Plant City’s Stingray Chevrolet to raffle off a brand new car at the end of the festival. For the third year in a row, the prize car is a Chevrolet Corvette.
This year, though, the grand prize is a Grand Sport.
The Corvette Grand Sport packs a lot of punch: its 460-horsepower V8 engine gets drivers from zero to 60 miles per hour in just under four seconds. This year’s model has an eight-speed paddle shift automatic transmission.
Stingray’s torch red ride is loaded with more than the slick black wheels, daytime running lights and tinted windows that meet the eye. It’s outfitted with a Bose sound system, keyless remote engine start capability and heated outside mirrors. The car is hooked up to OnStar, SiriusXM satellite radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and also comes with a Driver Information Center and an oil life monitoring system.
Corvette Grand Sports often come with a retail price of around $67,000 but, as always, Stingray is donating the car to Unity in the Community with no strings attached. Rather than wait until the car is paid off before donating, the dealership will donate all proceeds — even if only a fraction of the $67,000 was raised.
But hitting that goal isn’t a problem. Last year’s Corvette Stingray, which featured a custom candy red paint job, raised $185,000 for Unity in the Community. That total bested the 2015 mark by $23,000.
That makes the car raffle, which regularly raises more than $100,000 each year, Unity in the Community’s biggest annual fundraising event.
Unity in the Community spreads all of the money it raises to charity organizations around Plant City, and has done so since its inception in 1999. The money goes to help families that need food, health care or other forms of help.
Since partnering with Stingray eight years ago, the groups have raised over $785,000 to benefit families in need.
There are several options for those that wish to buy the $5 raffle tickets. They can be bought in-person at Stingray Chevrolet, 2002 N. Frontage Rd., until 6 p.m. Friday, March 10, or at the Florida Strawberry Festival until 4:30 p.m. Sunday, March 12. They can also be bought online at StingrayChevroletRaffle.com until 3 p.m. Friday, March 10. The limit is 50 tickets per person, and the winner will be drawn at 5 p.m. Sunday, March 12, at the festival. The owner of the winning ticket does not need to be present that evening to win the car, but must respond to communication within 72 hours before a new winner is named.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.