Brittany Petrenko is $1,000 richer thanks to using Driverseat on Dec. 17.
The Kitchener-based designated driver service held a company-wide contest from mid-November to Dec. 18 and Petrenko got in just before the deadline, and good thing too, as it landed her the grand prize of $1,000.
"All 16 franchises went in together and pooled money for this contest," said Driverseat owner/operator Tom Tobin.
"Anyone who booked a ride with us in that time period was entered into the contest and you could also enter by sharing the hashtag #DS1000 on social media."
Brittany and her husband were at a Christmas party on Dec. 17 and the decision to use Driverseat was made last-minute.
"We live in Worthington and Operation Red Nose doesn't offer service out there and we didn't want to take a cab because we wanted to have our car home," said Petrenko.
"It was snowing like crazy that night and they (Driverseat) were great, the ride took a little longer because of the weather but it was the same price as a cab, plus we didn't have to worry about picking up the car the next day."
The win was as much a surprise to Petrenko as it was to the company's owners Tom and Kjrsten Tobin.
"We didn't think the winner would be from Sudbury," said Kjrsten. "There's a lot of other franchises that are much bigger than ours, we're still kind of just starting out so it was pretty surprising that the winner was from here."
Brittany's reaction to the win was one of pure excitement, even though she didn't quite grasp what the prize was when Tom called her to inform her that she had won.
"I was so excited because I thought I had won a $1,000 voucher for Driverseat, I didn't even realize that it was for $1,000 cash," said Petrenko.
"I'm going to donate a portion of the winnings to the DJ Hancock bursary, I think this win was good karma and I just want to pass it along."
