The Third Annual South Cariboo Lioness Club Shopping Spree was a great success, says club secretary Lydia Kendall.
"It was so much fun to watch Athena Martens [first-place raffle winner for the $500 shopping spree at Save-On-Foods in 100 Mile House] because she was just so enthusiastic before, during and after the shopping spree.
"I want to thank everyone who bought tickets, Save-On-Foods for the $100 gift certificate and allowing us to have the shopping spree in the store, Joe St. Germain for the plant container and the Free Press for the advertising and story support."
The Lioness Club sold 300 tickets at $5 apiece and they were sold out 10 days before the day of the draw. Kendall notes that after paying $500 for the shopping spree, $1,000 was deposited it its Children's Wellness Fund.
The fund helps any child and family that needs help to travel out of town for any kind of a medical help, she explains.
"We help them with money or rooms at the other end because it can be expensive. If anyone who needs help gets in touch with us, we will try our best to help them out."
Noting the money stays in the community, Kendall says people who need help can contact her at 250-395-4135.
Because they sold the tickets so quickly, she says Martens had a week to "plan her attack," and that's exactly what the raffle winner did.
Martens says she was a little nervous when she was told she had won the raffle because "I never win anything.
"The more I thought about it the more excited I got. I sort knew exactly what I was going to grab going in and I just went for it ... I had lots of fun."
Martens has a 10-month-old daughter, Eliza, so baby goods definitely ruled the selection process.
"Stuff for babies is just so expensive, but I got everything I had on my list."
Martens actually went $250 over the limit, but ended up paying $70 for what she really needed and the staff put the remainder back on the shelves.
She bought her lucky ticket from a couple of Lioness members at Save-On-Foods and says she's definitely buying another ticket next year.
Ingrid Meyer won the second-place prize – a $100 gift certificate – and Jamie Simms won the third-place prize of a handmade wooden flower container.