St. Tammany News

John Murchison never envisioned his job at Cleco would lead him into community service.

"When I started here 25 years ago I was an internal auditor," he said. "Then a couple of years later I moved into customer service marketing, and there's a much greater emphasis on community responsibility."

John Murchison

Murchison is now the Senior Residential and Small Commercial Business Developer for the company. His job brought him in contact with members of the St. Tammany Homebuilder's Association, who were looking to create some goodwill in the parish after the area started experiencing tremendous growth several years ago.

"People thought that developers were just chopping down trees right and left," said Murchison. "They were getting a bad rap."

Thus the Raising the Roof for Charity Raffle House project was born.

Now in its 14th year, the Raffle House was conceived as a way for the association to give something back to the parish. Association members donate time and money or give a price break on building materials. The house is then raffled off for $100 a ticket, and proceeds are given to several local charities.

Over the years more than $3.5 million has been raised by the project.

The first recipient of the Raffle House proceeds was Habitat for Humanity, which at the time was primarily operating only in the western part of St. Tammany Parish. The national presidents of both Habitat and the Homebuilders Association lent their support.

The following year it was decided that the whole parish should benefit and the project would expand to help multiple recipients. Children's Hospital in New Orleans was a partner for several years, helping the project gain major exposure and get a foothold in the area.

Murchison first started with the program as a member of the Associate Council for the organization, which is made up of members who are not actually builders. As time went on he became treasurer for the STHBA board, which led to more hands-on involvement with the Raffle House due to the related financial aspects.

Last year he served as vice chairman, moving into the chairman position for this year's Raffle House. The builder is always the outgoing president of the STHBA, so Randy Varuso of Varuso-Ripoll will be handling construction duties this year.

A selection committee helps identify the charities that will receive proceeds from the house. Groups make presentations before the committee to discuss their needs, their ability to sell tickets and so on.

"That's the most rewarding part of the project, but also the most painstaking," said Murchison. "Unfortunately, we can't fund everyone."

This year, 11 charities applied to participate in the project, and Murchison is happy to report all of them will receive some portion of the Raffle House 2008 proceeds.

"It's rare that we are able to give some type of commitment to everyone who is interviewed," he said.

This year at least 5,000 tickets will be available, and 97 percent of the amount raised goes directly to the charities. Murchison said it's due to the fact that so many of the materials and time are donated free of charge.

"The hardest thing about the project is trying to get everything for free," he said. "But STHBA members have always stepped up to the plate."

Hurricane Katrina killed the project in 2005. Many members still wanted to go forward with it, since so many residents needed housing, but in the aftermath of the storm the obstacles were just too high. As a compromise, the organization lined up six charities, with the agreement that if they were able to raise a total of $25,000, STHBA would match the amount two to one.

Murchison worries the project may become stagnant and lose momentum over the years.

"How do you take it to the next level?" he often asks himself. "How do you keep the bar high?"

One solution is to establish an honorary chairperson, someone to act as an ambassador for the project, and Murchison is actively working to identify a possible candidate for the role.

He said other homebuilders have tried similar projects in the past, but have given up after a couple of years. He points to the tremendous community support his group has received, but also has another theory as to why Raffle House has succeeded.

"The reason this works is we not only know how to do it, but why," said Murchison. "We're not just building houses, we're building a community."