STAR, Idaho — The grand prize for the 2022 St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway is being built in the Hope Springs subdivision in Star.
Star Mayor Trevor Chadwick and members of the city council on Wednesday joined representatives of St. Jude and Berkeley Building Company for a groundbreaking celebration.
The home, located on West Heliopsis Drive, will be the 18th built for the St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway in the Boise area, and will be the tenth Dream Home built by Berkeley Building Company.
Tickets for the giveaway drawing will go on sale in April 2022 for $100 each. Proceeds benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which treats childhood cancers and other life-threatening illnesses at no cost to the patient's family.
"I think the mission is very personal. Some of us have medically fragile children, and we know what that's like," said Jenna Englund, president of Berkeley Building Company. "We've been able to visit St. Jude, and so we've seen what they're able to do for families and for children."
Once construction is complete, the Dream Home will be open to the public for in-person open houses.
Because of concerns about COVID-19, homes for the 2020 and 2021 giveaways were not open to the public.
"We're really excited to be able to show everyone again," Englund said. "We will be taking precautions, but we will be open to the public this year."
Berkeley and the building industry as a whole has taken a hit from material shortages and higher costs. Englund said those factors have affected the company's "everyday business."
However, Englund said, partners have come through for the St. Jude Dream Home project.
"They are also in the mission of St. Jude, and they donate regardless of their circumstance. So we're really lucky that way. We've been able to build a zero-cost home for the last four years," Englund said.
The 2022 Dream Home will be at least the second St. Jude Dream Home built in Star. The last one was in 2014.
Englund said Berkeley is already building other homes in the Hope Springs development, and usually builds the Dream Home in areas where the company has existing relationships.
"It's incredibly difficult to find locations, but again, we just work with some of the very best people that make it happen for us," she said.
Tickets for the 2022 St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway will go on sale in April for the prize drawing that will take place in late May. Along with the chance to win a house, those who purchase tickets for the drawing will have the chance to win other prizes.
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