Jouni Kuokkanen was reading to his students when he was told to go to the office.
A Grade 6 and 7 teacher at McKellar Park School, he initially thought something might have happened to one of his three children. But at lunch time when he went to see what the matter was, he was pleasantly surprised to find out that he had won the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation Save a Heart Car Raffle.
“I was shocked when they called. I wasn’t really sure if it was a joke but I figured out quickly that it wasn’t,” Kuokkanen said Tuesday afternoon as he went to pick up his 2013 Beetle at Downtown Volkswagen.
While ecstatic, Kuokkanen, a former professional hockey player who spent two seasons with the Lakehead Thunderwolves, said he was initially a little embarrassed because he’d rather see all of the money go to the Northern Cardiac Fund.
But because Downtown Volkswagen donated the car, which raised more than $42,000 in the raffle this year, he’s just happy so much was raised for a good cause.
“That’s what it’s all about,” he said.
As for the car, it’ll be a family decision on what to do with it.
“We’ll see if it’s practical for us and see if any of those boys want a Beetle when they turn 16,” he said.
