Winning the Prince George Hospice Society's Dream Home Lottery could not have come at a more convenient time for a young Prince George couple, nor could the move be any bigger.
The parents of two young boys and a third child on the way, Andrea Cake, 26, and Maderic Portier, 36, had recently renovated their home in the O'Grady Trailer Park and were thinking of putting it on the block and buying a full-blown house.
A big half of that equation was answered Thursday when they got a call from Society president Mike Hickey who told them they are now the proud owners of a 1,936 square foot home, worth nearly $450,000, in one of the city's most upscale neighbourhoods.
"I'm still in shock, I can't believe it," said a giddy Cake as they toured the home at 7693 Stillwater Cres. in the Malaspina subdivision and met with local media on Friday.
"We're definitely thinking of moving in," Cake said. "The baby's due in January so we're going to get everything done up for the baby and for our other sons."
They will likely make good use of the kitchen. Portier works in camps around northern B.C. as a sous chef and Cake only recently went on maternity leave from her job as a prep cook at Moxie's. In fact, they met while working as cooks in a camp and have been together for about four years.
"I was her boss," Portier said.
The couple realize the significance of their good fortune. Not only are they moving into a true dream home but they won't have a mortgage hanging over their heads - their old home was costing about $1,000 a month.
As well, Portier has just about finished paying off a new truck which means they will be able to plow plenty of cash into registered retirement savings plans. Portier said his employer, Compass Group, a food services company, pays well and matches employees' RRSP contributions.
Herb Sobel, 60, and wife Sharon, 64, walked away with $70,130 as winners of the 50-50 draw.
Even if they hadn't won, it still would have been money well spent in Sobel's opinion.
"This is one charity we always buy tickets for," said Sobel, an autobody technician at Klassic Auto Body. "That and the Spruce Kings but the Hospice House, I think is one of the most important for Prince George."
They haven't completely decided how the money will be spent but are thinking of taking their family on a vacation - they're the parents of two now-grown children - and possibly renovating the kitchen in their home.
Sobel said he forgot he bought the 50-50 ticket which he purchased three Sundays ago. They had bought a Dream Home Lottery ticket earlier to get in on the early bird draws and bought the 50-50 ticket when they took a drive out to tour the home while they were in the area.
"We've never won anything remotely close to that sort of thing and it's an awesome win," Sobel said.
The lottery has also turned out to be a winner for the Hospice Society. By the time all was said and done, nearly 95 per cent of the 8,999 tickets available were sold, the largest number in the three such lotteries it has hosted.
"I think the community is become more aware of what Hospice is all about," Hickey said. "And the support they've shown in the last several weeks has been phenomenal. Our numbers were low going into the home stretch but the community just came out and got our numbers way up."
The Society operates the Rotary Hospice House, which is used primarily for end-of-life care and pain management during that time. Proceeds will support three beds in the 10-bed facility.
Hospice Society fund development and marketing officer Dianne Sears said a better-than-average summer may have played a role in the struggling sales at the outset.
"I think there were a lot of people who just left town," she said. "Normally, our July and August would have been pretty steady and they were down but I think that had a lot to do with the weather."
The home is custom built by Rise Construction, with two appliances, a moving package from Moving Sucks, a dish set from DandyLines, Telus Optik TV and a security system from Curtis Elite with six months of monitoring.
Simply calling the winners was a thrill for Hickey and Sears.
"It's so nice to see a young family win it," Hickey said. "They're going to be mortgage free for the rest of their lives and they're in their 20s. That's amazing."
