The final day of the Kentucky State Fair was Sunday, August 24, and with that, the drawing for the 2024 Ford Mustang GT raffled off by Trooper Island Youth Camp.
For the first time since the kids’ camp has been raffling off a vehicle as a fundraiser, an Albany native was the winner of the raffle.
Lois Melton, owner of 1590 Auto Sales, was the name drawn from the bin of tickets at the Kentucky State Fair Sunday afternoon.
Melton said she is going to choose the car option rather than the $50,000 cash option.
“The car is worth more than I would probably get after taxes with the cash,” Melton said. “That way I can choose to keep or sell it if I want to.”
Melton said she thought it was a prank at first when she got the call Sunday afternoon from Trooper Island Director Jonathan Biven.
“When you hear ‘Kentucky State Police’ you think they are wanting donations,” Melton said. “He quickly went into it … ‘You have won’ and when he said it, it was like ‘What would I win?’”
It wasn’t until Biven told her it was for the Mustang that Melton realized and remembered she had purchased tickets for the car months ago.
“I’m shell shocked, but blessed,” Melton said. “We bought them probably three months and I had them back there in my drawer. Honestly I didn’t even know the day they was giving it away. I didn’t even think about because the odds of me winning were huge.”
Rick Melton, husband of Lois, said it goes for a good cause.
“I hope the kids have fun,” Rick Melton said. “It’s a really good cause.”
Melton said she has had a lot of people call her and congratulate her on winning the Mustang.
“It makes me feel good and a lot of people have been over the top for me in congratulating me,” Melton said.
Trooper Island Youth Camp is a 35 acre camp on an island in Dale Hollow Lake in the southwest corner of Clinton County.
The camp provides a week-long summer camping experience for approximately 700 youth from across Kentucky each summer.
The Trooper Island Youth Camp program allows the campers to work and play side by side along with sworn Kentucky State Police officers, giving them the opportunity to develop a positive relationship with the law enforcement officers at an early age. Most of the campers who attend the camp each week are from underprivileged homes or are considered “at risk” due to their environments.
Among the activities that campers enjoy during their experience at Trooper Island Youth Camp include: Archery, swimming (both beginning and advanced), kayaking, fishing, American Sign Language, nature education, shooting range and general recreation.