Greencastle family wins $10,000 home facelift
INDIANAPOLIS -- What started as a simple home remodeling contest turned into a much-needed gift for a Greencastle family.
Daniel and Mary Rader were named winners in a $10,000 Labor Day Giveaway sponsored by Unique Home Solutions.
A tough economy can often cause strain on small town life. For the Rader family, that has unfortunately been the case.
Because their family has found it difficult to find steady employment, home remodeling dropped to the bottom of their priority list. Though their 70-year- old home had needs, home improvement projects were only a wish in the distance behind helping their family and friends through tough times.
When they found out they had won the $10,000 prize, the first thing the Raders wanted to do was give this prize to someone in more need than themselves.
Although their windows were in grave need of replacing, their priority was still to help another in a worse position than themselves.
"Winning a prize like this is great, it is so exciting and gives you hope," said Mary Rader. "I mean, if something like this could happen to me, it motivates me to give to someone else."
Their compassion for others runs deeper than a simple prize. They gave the very home they owned for 20 years to their daughter and her six children upon hearing that she lost her job.
On top of supporting themselves, the Raders help their other two children who are finding it difficult to find employment.
The Raders are very involved in the local Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Eagle Watch, and are passionate about their involvement in the annual Granny Ride, a fundraiser for those suffering from cancer in Putnam County.
"Helping somebody else out, instead of sitting around worrying about what you do or don't have, makes you feel better and it helps them too," said Mary.
Unique spent six months collecting applicants for the annual Labor Day drawing.
The Raders were completely unaware of the contest when they initially called Unique for an estimate, but were automatically entered into the drawing.
The Raders' current home is about 70 years old and still had the original, single pane, wood windows, which they decided to replace with their winnings.
"When we selected the Raders as our winners, we had no idea how much they needed new windows. It was a nice surprise to be able to give this type of gift to such a wonderful, well-deserving family. It warmed all of our hearts," said Lindsey Richardt, Director of Media Relations at Unique Home Solutions.
Mary Rader said it took a while before she believed it was true. "Well of course I didn't believe the news at first; I was waiting for the shoe to drop. There are so many people out there ready to rip you off. We are kind of an older couple and it is well known that older people seem to get hit badly with stuff like this."