You might have seen it online: claims of a massive party and a chance to win $100,000 in front of Bend’s famous last Blockbuster Video store.
Is it real?
Here’s the claim from Mr. Humanity, Anthony Mattera. He’s a YouTuber with 21,000 followers: “We are giving away a lot of money to people.”
Mattera records videos giving away money to people. Next week, he will be doing the same thing in Central Oregon, hosting a block party on June 2 from 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. in the parking lot at Blockbuster.
“The events are backed by an insurance company, and when someone wins the event, they get paid out,” said Mattera.
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Fundraisers like hole-in-one contests that give away a car are often backed by insurance policies covering the cost of the car on the off chance someone hits that hole-in-one.
So what’s the contest Mr. Humanity is hosting? He told us “no comment,” when initially asked about the financial side of it.
Mattera would not tell us any real details about the $100,000 on the line, but Blockbuster’s General Manger Sandi Harding weighed in.
“It’s a game of chance,” said Harding. “So they just have to come in and pick six random numbers, and if they’re the lucky ones, they’re going to win. We have four other games as well that we’re playing. Ones a dice roll and they get to win some money as well as some movie trivia kind of games.”
Three nonprofits were invited to this event as well: Saving Grace, the Humane Society of Central Oregon and Emma’s Project.
The two we got a hold of seemed confused about the event. We asked Mr. Humanity to clarify.
“The nonprofits are going to benefit from this event just strictly from the brand awareness and the foot traffic and the monetary donations that the people give on that day,” Mattera said.
The event hosts claim no one will be asked to pay for a chance at the $100,000 prize. But some sponsors, according to Mr. Humanity, already paid for a chance at the 50,000 and 25,000 contests happening at the same event.
