A Pilot Rock, Ore., man won the grand prize - a classic 1965 Mustang convertible - in the Kiwanis Doernbecher Children's Cancer Program's 14th Annual Classic Mustang Raffle. The winning ticket in this year's raffle, which raised $100,000 for young cancer patients, was drawn on Labor Day at the Oregon State Fair by Doernbecher patient Laurie Miller of Turner, Ore.
Andy Skinner, who said he could not believe his luck, has always loved working on old cars. His first act as owner was to drop the top and take it for a spin. He purchased his winning ticket from Vince Watson, Sr., of Hermiston, a member of the Kiwanis Doernbecher Children's Cancer Program Board.
Kiwanis clubs throughout Oregon sold tickets during the past year to raise money for the Kiwanis Doernbecher Children's Cancer Program at OHSU's Doernbecher Children's Hospital. Tickets were sold at the Oregon State Fair and community events throughout the state.
For nearly two decades, members of more than 140 Kiwanis clubs in Oregon and Southwest Washington have been committed to helping children at Doernbecher. Through June 2005 Kiwanis raised more than $1.5 million through a variety of fund-raising events and projects including the Mustang raffle, golf tournaments, bike rides and holiday ornament sales.
In the early 1990s Kiwanians led the drive to build the Kiwanis Doernbecher Bone Marrow Transplant Unit - the first and the only program of its kind for children in the region - and continued to provide annual support until the unit became part of the Kenneth W. Ford Northwest Children's Cancer Center in 1998. The following year Kiwanians established the Kiwanis Children's Cancer Fellowship Program to train the next generation of pediatric hematology/oncology specialists. They currently raise $150,000 annually for this program.