A Mother's Day Gift All Moms Would Like: 15 Grand

A local single mom walks away $15,000 richer after an early bird drawing for the the Ronald McDonald House Dream House Raffle.

Janet August Chase of Imperial Beach, who is a single mother of three, won the bundle Wednesday. What's she going to do with all that dough? Well, she's got two kids in college -- one at USC Law School, the other at Grossmont College -- and a son still in high school.

Chase was getting ready for work, listening to the drawing live on KPRI when she found out she won.

"I was actually keeping my fingers crossed for my daughter because I talked her into buying a ticket and she's in college and could really use the money," she said. "They called my name and I froze."

β€œIt literally changes my life,” she said.

She has some very unsexy plans for the money that were going to make her really happy.

"Pay off debt -- with three kids there's not two dimes to rub together," Chase said. "I'm going to get out from under debt."

Her big extravagance will be buying lunch at Pizza Hut for her coworkers at H.M. Pitt, an environmental consulting and analysis company in National City.

Chase wasn't the only one in the region with good news from the charity raffle. Dr. Jill Meyer, a married mother of a 4-month old girl who lives in Clairemont/Bay Ho area, won $10,000 in the drawing.

The raffle was an early-bird element to the a larger raffle in which the Ronald McDonald Charities is selling raffle tickets for a $1.9 million home in Encinitas for $150. The raffle is being held through June 5, but organizers are picking winners every month for a variety of prizes ranging from cash to trips.

The grand prize will be drawn June 20, and entrants can buy as many tickets as they want (and win as many times as luck) allows.

"I would say if you have healthy kids, get out your checkbook and give to the Ronald McDonald House," said Chase. "Buy a ticket."
  
Ronald McDonald House Charities director Daniel Sinton said that the money raised from the raffle will go to pay the operating cost of the new 47-room Ronald McDonald House that being built across from Children's Hospital.

The house raffle is an annual event held by the charity. Last year, organizers raised $1.1 million.
 

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