Dedication pays off for Spring into Summer draw winner

Every week this spring Bonnie Kerr marched into the St. John Ambulance Water Street offices and plunked down $10 for a ticket in the organization’s annual Spring into Summer draw, hoping to win the grand prize.

On Tuesday, the official start of summer, Kerr’s dedication paid off, as her name was drawn from a rotating metal drum, winning her the contest’s grand prize, a 36-footJayco Jayflight travel trailer.

Diana Sustawenko, the executive director of St. John Ambulance Northwestern Ontario, said a better tale couldn’t have been penned.

“It’s certainly well deserved,” she said. “So congratulations to her.”

Second prize, a home theatre system, was won by Shirley O’Donovan, while third prize, a pair of mountain bikes and a $500 gift card to Canadian Tire, went to Cary Kachur.

Sustawenko said money earned from the draw – they sold 7,000 tickets at $10 apiece – will be used locally.

“This is St. John Ambulance’s biggest fundraiser of the year,” she said.

“We’re certainly thrilled with the support that we received. All of the money raised with this campaign goes toward our community programs, which are our medical first response team, our car seat inspection service, our school safety programs and our therapy dog program.”

Jason Johnstone, general manager at Smith’s RV Centre, who provided the fully loaded trailer, said taking part in the draw each year is a no-brainer.

“It’s always good to support the community. We’re very fortunate as a business here in Thunder Bay to have the support of the community supporting us. Hopefully we can help charities and organizations such as St. John’s be successful and give back again with all the programs they help support Thunder Bay with.”