Some observations about the raffle for forum members wondering about how it all works.
Over the years we have seen quite an extreme range of items. The items range from physical stuff worth a few dollars to fantastic hand made quilts from Quilt Lady. Many items are gift certificates to local businesses. Often times these are donated by the establishments or purchased by forum members and brought to the FF.
There is not a lot of pressure really. The items are usually arranged on a table with plastic glasses to collect the raffle tickets. Everyone decides if they want to buy any tickets, how many to buy, and what cups to put them in. Some people buy a few, some people buy a lot. Either way, we all have fun.
The odds of winning are much better than any lottery you will every play.
Several forum members usually collect contributions from those of us who can't make it in person. We have a few items that have been shipped to our house already by members who sent a PM to RG for our address.
We have had folks drop things off at the island and picked items up by boat. No hard rules.
Some people send cash to trusted forum friends who do the tickets and hopefully collect the winnings for them if they win.
Everybody does their own thing with item donations or ticket purchases so it's impossible to get it wrong. No peer pressure to donate.
I think last year some people who were at the park came over and bought tickets. The money all goes to charity so it's all good.
Plenty of teasing of winners by the losers. But we won't name any names