WENTZVILLE, Mo. – The St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway announced its winner Thursday morning. The money raised benefits St. Jude’s Hospital while giving one lucky person a $645,000 home.
The name drawn for the Wentzville home is Cynthia Wolff, who currently resides in Troy, Missouri. She almost didn’t believe it when she got the phone call.
“I just (submit an entry) every year for the past four or five years. It’s a good cause and I thought I might get lucky,” Wolff said. “I thought, well, somebody has got to win.”
Her $100 ticket she purchased landed her a four-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom home. The retired special education teacher had not told her husband of the winning news yet, as he was at work.
“I just have to let it sink in, talk to him, and go from there. I’ve never had a new home before—I’ve had other people’s homes to purchase. New to me, but not brand new like this,” she said.
There were 16,500 tickets sold for the giveaway, with each ticket being $100. All of the $1.65 million will be donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.
“Several years ago, I bought (a ticket) and split it with someone. Ever since then, I thought I’d donate to other causes too, but I know this is great cause,” Wolff said. “$100 is a lot of money to most people, but it goes to a good cause.”