A raffle intended to help homeless children is arranged by a little bookstore company in the Bay Area — and it involves a special item from one of the most famous names in the music industry, KPIX reported.
If one wants a small, neighborhood bookstore feel, Books Inc. in Berkeley is a place to be.
Selling lively in the store is a book from Paul McCartney, a former Beatle. For $100, one can have his book “The Lyrics” which made it to the New York Times bestseller list.
McCartney has aged, but the now 79-year-old still has an 11-year-old fan Mateo Gril, who still appreciates his music.
“It is still respected,” Gril said. “It might not be as popular as it used to be but it is still respected.”
The bookstore’s rare collectibles will be placed for sale, apart from the current titles available.
“The regular edition is amazing but the one we’re raffling off is even better,” Books Inc. events and marketing manager Elena Eustaquio saix.
“The Lyrics” single special-edition copy was given to the store, as selected by the publisher. The rare piece bears the signature of Sir Paul himself.
One of the 175 existing copies is open for bid on eBay, with a starting bid of $15, 000. Books Inc. got the copy number 67 but it was still secured in its shipping box.
“Once we got the news, it was very exciting,” Eustaquio said, “and we realized we could do something very good for the community.”
A raffle of $15 per ticket was organized by the store, with the intent to help a non-profit, Community Education Partnerships.
Homeless kids are being tutored and mentored under the said program.
About $5, 000 has so far been gathered by the raffle.
CEP’s senior director of programs Bath Miller said the amount could go a long way to help the children.
“We can take that funding and help all of our students who are applying for college, take that for their college applications,” she said. “We can help all our students taking AP exams, pay for those. We can fix broken Chromebooks so our kids can keep meeting with their virtual tutors. I mean, there’s so much we can do with this.”
Books Inc. is only offering in-person ticket sales as a way to promote neighborhood bookstores. These tickets are available in a total of eight locations in the Bay Area, where the CEP also serves.
“Everybody wins,” said Eustaquio. “We get people into our stores, we get people to support a local non-profit, we get kids the help they need. And one lucky person is going to get to have this book, which is, like, I don’t even know how excited they’re going to be!”
Tickets can be availed until Dec. 14 and the draw will be on Dec. 15.
