Can’t Win

“And then we won.”

Mike Trask, Fire chief from Alna, Maine

You’ve heard the expression “can’t win for losing,” right? It means that no matter what, you can’t get ahead. The volunteer fire department in Alna, Maine (population 681) knows the feeling, but it can do one better: can’t win for winning.

This fall, the Lincoln County Fire Chiefs Association was selling raffle tickets for a Disney World trip. Sales were slow so Mike Trask, fire chief from Alna, asked his fire department to buy $100 worth of tickets to help out. The problem is, it won. The bigger problem is, Mr. Trask is the head of the Fire Chiefs Association. Other contestants were not amused. They grumbled and Mr. Trask investigated. He discovered he could trade in the Disney World trip for cash. He did that, and on behalf of his fire department donated more than $3,000 each to the Make-a-Wish Foundation and Lincoln County Community Energy Fund. Mr. Trask said his fire department sure could have used the money itself, but it was the right thing to do. In the end, the fire department saved face, two charities received donations, and the Fire Chiefs Association sold a bunch of raffle tickets. A win–win–win situation.

Read more → Krister Rollins, Accidental raffle win winds up helping charities, WCSH 6 News, Dec. 7, 2011.