A Texas Toyota dealership is facing backlash online following a charity raffle controversy. Toyota of Rockwall partnered with non-profit charity The Genesis Center to offer a coveted 1994 Toyota Supra as the grand prize.
The Supra, which had 144,209 miles on it, was donated by a local resident undergoing cancer treatment. The Genesis Center then collaborated with Toyota of Rockwall to host a raffle to support domestic violence victims. Raffle tickets were priced at $20 each or six for $100, with all proceeds going directly to The Genesis Center. Notably, Toyota of Rockwall had invested $7,000 into restoring the car, with a total restoration cost exceeding $17,000 when factoring in contributions from five sponsors.
They led efforts to refurbish the car, giving it new leather seats, new paint, new tires, new tint – all at no charge
Initially, this seems like a heartwarming initiative—charity and community coming together. However, the situation quickly soured. The dealership and charity permitted staff and their family members to participate in the raffle, leading to ill feelings among the public. The winner, revealed through a Facebook post from Toyota of Rockwall, was none other than the General Sales Manager’s wife, Rebecca Rawls (which was incorrectly spelled as “Rebecca Rawl” in the announcement and on The Genesis Center’s fundraiser page).
According to a statement issued by the dealership, Rawls coordinated with four others to buy a total of six tickets for every $100 contributed, netting them 90 tickets in total. While the exact sales figures remain unclear, the dealer indicated that the raffle raised over $50,000 for The Genesis Center, implying at least 3,000 tickets were sold. With such generous ticket purchases, Rawls’ group had about a 3% chance of winning.
According to a now-deleted post on Toyota of Rockwall’s Facebook page, the individuals involved agreed to sell the Supra and donate the proceeds back to The Genesis Center. A listing on eBay by seller “rawlsdanny09” (the General Sales Manager’s name is Danny Rawls) offered a 1994 Toyota Supra with 144,599 miles until it was taken down shortly after, claiming prior paint work but did not mention the new interior, contradicting previous statements by Nancy Schoenle.
The dealership did not clarify the plan to resell the vehicle, stating that the winners chose not to reveal their intentions for subsequent donations at that time. Given that over a week passed between the raffle’s winner announcement and the dealership’s response to the growing uproar, many have criticized their handling of the situation, labeling the raffle a “scam.” The fallout included a wave of one-star reviews on their Facebook page, resulting in its eventual removal.
Toyota of Rockwall maintains that they implemented measures to prevent favoritism in the raffle and collaborated with the donor’s spouse to ensure she would draw the winning ticket, not the dealership. They assert they adhered closely to state laws to avoid conflicts of interest. While the blame game is complex, public disappointment stems from allowing employees and their families to participate in the raffle. As of 8:00 PM EST, Rawls has been removed from the staff section of Toyota of Rockwall’s website (archive snapshots reveal he was present earlier in March shows him still on). What are your thoughts? Should the dealership have disclosed that employees were eligible and that the manager’s wife had won? Was the announcement owing to the public delayed too long?
The General Manager of Toyota of Rockwall was not available for comment.
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