ONE SHOCKED WINNER
Louise Coneen of Charlottetown lucky recipient in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of P.E.I. cottage draw
Louise Coneen of Charlottetown lucky recipient in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of P.E.I. cottage draw
Louise Coneen of Charlottetown was shocked, stunned and at a loss for words when she got a call from Myron Yates Friday afternoon.
Yates, the executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of P.E.I., was calling Coneen to tell her she was the lucky winner in the organization’s annual cottage draw.
Coneen’s first thought was that she was being pranked.
“I’m not sure I really believe this,’’ Coneen said through the speaker phone when Yates told her the news from the cottage.
It felt a bit more real after she got in the car and drove down to the cottage location in the Canadian Tire parking lot in Charlottetown.
“I didn’t expect to ever win,’’ she told The Guardian after a quick tour of the cottage. “I am so excited and I am so happy and I’m glad that my children (who bought me the ticket) supported a good cause.’’
Coneen and her husband, Mike, sold their home in June and have been living in their son’s basement since until they decide what to do next. They certainly have options now.
Since they tagged the ticket with the furniture and appliances, they’ve got a week to decide whether they want the cottage or a cheque for $73,000.
“I don’t know, I don’t know,’’ Coneen said when asked what they’ll do.
Yates said about 14,700 tickets were sold for the draw. They average between 14,500 and 15,300 tickets each year.
It’s a big fundraiser for the organization.
“We raise about 93 per cent of our funds ourselves,’’ Yates said.
The organization operates an office in Charlottetown and Summerside, 2.4 caseworker positions, an administrative assistant, Yates as executive director and two people in fund development.
But it’s the programs the organization offers that truly benefit, such as the traditional one-on-one Big Brother, Big Sister or Big Couple program, the in-school mentoring program where a volunteer spends an hour each week with a child in school and a team mentoring program where teenagers from high schools or intermediate schools spend an hour a week with children in elementary schools.
The organization also runs a program for 10- to 13-yearolds and the Kids and Cops day camp program with Charlottetown Police Services.
“To operate all those programs and so forth and to be able to maintain our profile in the community, this (cottage draw) and the Bowl for Kids’ Sake are the two fundraisers we do each year,’’ Yates said.