The 12th annual Homes for the Holidays fundraising event happened Saturday afternoon in five Portage la Prairie region homes.

Residents opened their Christmas-themed decorated homes to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, adding to the roughly $120,000 raised to date.

Organizer Tracy Vanstone says they believe 600 to 700 people purchased tickets this year. She adds about $10,000 was raised last year, but doesn't have this year's numbers yet. However, she thinks they'll do well.

"We looked at the bids. We're really impressed with our smaller-bid items. We used some local crafters, and those seemed to really draw the attention of the crowds. And the way the community got behind us, and supported us, just from money from the cider tent that we had, and money that we made from all the bid items was just fabulous. And the ticket sales look great."

Vanstone's grateful for the hard work of their volunteers and committee.

"We had so many volunteers helping out in the homes, and the committee has been working really hard. Sharon Moran has led this committee -- this is her last year, I understand, and she's done a lot of work. Just a great group of ladies who've put in a ton of time now, so we have some really strong committee members, and we're always looking for people to get on board with our committee."

If you're interested in joining the committee, here's a link.

Here are more photos, courtesy of Dana Geisel.