The Bassmaster Elite Series season is a wrap, and it’s time once again to WIN Randy Howell’s fully rigged Ranger/Yamaha tour boat, while helping kids and ladies in need at King’s Home! Howell’s boat giveaway is in its 15th year and has had a huge impact on the King’s Home charity by raising over $3.7 million to date. Not only is this year a huge milestone by being the 15th year, but Howell is hoping to well surpass the $4 million mark with a goal of breaking the single-year record and reaching $500,000 raised.
Over the years of the giveaway, ticket donations have come from people in all 50 states and 10 other countries around the world! Howell has been blown away by the level of support and hopes to continue its growth for many years to come.
“Having the support from people from all over the world just shows you the heartbeat of the fishing community. They always want to help a good cause,” said Howell.
On the flip side, where else do you have such a high chance of winning such a valuable boat for a $100 ticket? This giveaway is truly a win-win for everyone involved!
About King’s Home
Let’s take a look at what King’s Home really is and why it is so extremely important. King’s Home is a faith-centered organization whose focus is to house and support women, youth and children who have been abused, abandoned, neglected and have suffered other extreme and impoverished conditions. Currently, they own and operate 21 residential group homes in six different counties across the state of Alabama. They serve on average 275 residents a year. Everyone brought into the program has been rendered homeless from situations of domestic violence and abuse. King’s Home not only helps them have a place to reside but also a place to find hope and reassurance. Each person is mentored and supported based on their individual needs while keeping Christ at the center and showing the way to salvation, and helping build a true relationship with God.
King’s Home gives these victims a sense of love and compassion that many may not have felt in a long time. In addition, they provide education and tangible services to help heal and wipe away their scarring pasts. The community builds healthy relationships and skills for the victims to ensure they never have to be homeless again. This is done by not only helping break the cycle of abuse and spiritual development, but by teaching important skills such as saving money, finding a job and staying consistent in building toward a better life.
Being a faith-based nonprofit, King’s Home does not receive any federal funding and operates mainly on donations. That’s why events like Howell’s boat giveaway are so important to impact countless lives that may otherwise be stuck in a downward cycle. The average group home at King’s Home costs about $170,000 a year to operate, which means money raised from the giveaway has been able to fund two homes for the whole year. With a little more growth in this year’s boat giveaway, a third home could be fully funded by the bass fishing community.
How Randy got involved and what inspired him to give away his boat
It all started in 2007 at the Bassmaster Classic held in Birmingham, Ala. King’s Home randomly reached out to Randy through his website, hoping to put together a group of Classic anglers to talk with the boys around their lake. Randy and his family visited King’s Home and were blown away by the program and the hope it was providing. While they continued to help out in small events, Randy Howell knew something more had to be done.
“I’m an emotional guy, especially when it comes to kids,” said Howell. “It just hit me so hard in my heart hearing stories of abuse. I was like, ‘We have to do something to use our platform in fishing and really help this amazing ministry.’”
After some discussions with the board, Howell became a national spokesman of King’s Home, spreading awareness as he traveled across the country fishing the Elite Series. After a year and a half of that, the idea was sparked about finding a way to use the boat to help raise actual funds and truly support monetarily. That’s when the boat giveaway was born.
“It was tough to get it started, but the next year it grew a little more and started catching on,” said Howell. “When it really took off was when the Classic came back to Birmingham in 2014, and we were on our third year of the boat giveaway. We had all the kids and ladies from King’s Home in attendance at that Classic, and when I made that comeback from 11th on the final day and won, they got to watch that Cinderella story happen right in front of them in their own city.”
“I think that’s a big part of why God let it happen so dramatically, and I won the Classic in Birmingham because of the timing to help put King’s Home on the map. We really started getting a lot more interest from across the country.”
Hope Festival
Alongside the giveaway is the Randy Howell Hope Festival, where local high school fishing team anglers volunteer to help teach the youth at King’s Home how to catch fish. The event is held at the King’s Home location in Chelsea, Ala., where they have a 10-acre lake on the grounds. This event gives the residents the opportunity to enjoy the activity we all love so much as anglers. In addition to the fishing, the festival provides a fun activity for the resident kids of all ages with face painting, hayrides, cornhole tournaments and much more.
During this event, the winner of the boat is drawn. The event is open to the public, and the drawing is livestreamed on Randy Howell’s Facebook page.
The Hope festival is Nov. 15, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the King’s Home campus in Chelsea, Ala.
The boat drawing will take place at 2 p.m. Central time on Saturday, Nov. 15.
Ticket donations will be taken until 12 p.m. central on Saturday, Nov. 15, on Kingshome.com/randyhowell and by phone at 205-678-8331.
Details about the giveaway and the boat
Every $100 ticket donation supports an incredible cause for people who need it in their journey for a better life, and you have an incredible chance at bringing home Randy Howell’s fully rigged tournament boat, with a retail value of over $123,000! “I really want to thank all of our fishing partners who provide everything for my boat, and help us make this possible, especially Ranger and Yamaha.”
Here are all the details of the boat:
- 2025 Ranger Z521-R with Prym1 blue camo wrap.
- 250 horsepower Yamaha SHO 4-Stroke engine with custom chrome blue accents.
- Yamaha T2.
- 3-blade prop.
- Precision Sonar Blue Motor Leash.
- T-H Marine 12-inch Atlas HD Hydraulic Jackplate.
- 2 Blue 8-foot Power-Pole Blades.
- 4 Precision lithium batteries.
- Power-Pole Charge System.
- Connect-Ease Power Harness.
- 2 Lowrance HDS12 Pro Units on a Precision Sonar custom mount at the console.
- 1 Lowrance HDS16 Pro Unit.
- 1 Lowrance HDS12 Pro unit on a Precision Sonar stacker mount at the bow with Active Target 2 Forward-Facing Sonar.
- T-H Marine KVD Hydrowave.
- Power-Pole Move 36V Trolling Motor.
- T-H Marine LED deck and compartment lighting.
