And the winner is

The eighth Audi Foundation fund-raising raffle has been run and won, with Queenslander, Michael Boehm, becoming the proud owner of a striking Audi SQ5 Sportback TDI just for supporting the ongoing work of the Audi Foundation and its charity partners.

But in a world where online scams and messages that seem ‘too good to be true’ are daily additions to most inboxes, a cautious Michael Boehm took his time to verify that the notification that he’d won was legitimate. In fact, Michael had been conducting email cyber security tests just minutes before the announcement, and he was in complete disbelief on receiving email notification that he was the lucky winner.

“I don’t know anyone who wins anything, I’ve never won anything,” said a delighted Michael after receiving the keys to the SQ5 Sportback TDI at Audi Centre South Brisbane.

“I just couldn’t believe it. I was eyeing the announcement email looking for red flags. When there were none, I searched LinkedIn for the names of the Audi Foundation contacts that were mentioned. While I did find them [their names], I thought it must have been the most elaborate prank because my next thought went to which one of my mates knew that I’d bought tickets in the Audi Foundation raffle. There was no immediate thought that I’d won,” he explained.

It wasn’t until Boehm contacted the Audi Foundation and the team confirmed they had indeed randomly selected his name as the prize winner, that the win sunk in. “By that time, I’d also googled the Audi Foundation and they already had my name up in the prize draw.

Proving that you’ve got to be in it to win it, this is the third Audi Foundation raffle that Michael has supported, after seeing Audi’s connection with RUOK Day three years ago. This gelled with Michael who is a staunch supporter of mental health initiatives. 

“I didn’t really know what the Audi Foundation was or what they did,” he confesses. 

“But after discovering their support for a lot of local Australian charities, well that was key to me buying tickets realistically. The local charities, and the fact that I may be able to win the car,” he says. 

The Boehm family are already Audi owners, with an Audi A3 currently serving family duties, but the new SQ5 TDI will be  taking its place in the garage.

“My wife now owns an SQ5 Sportsback. We’ve only had the one Audi before. We work in mining, and we’ve lived remotely for years. Living in the Northern Territory and Karratha in Western Australia, we didn’t really have a need for a nice high-end vehicle, it’s not really the location for it. Now we’re in Brisbane, having a nice car to do the chores around the city is much easier. My wife’s Audi A3 was relatively new, but we’ll upgrade that with our win, and she’ll drive the SQ5 Sportsback.”

Congratulations to Michael and the Boehm family on the win and for supporting the ongoing work of the Audi Foundation and its partners. Celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2022, the Audi Foundation has positively impacted the lives of more than six million people in Australia and donated more than four million dollars to its not-for-profit partners to support on-going programs.