By Kari Cyr
Chris and Stephanie Deschenes won't have to go far to collect their grand prize from the Kinsmen Home Sweet Home Sweepstakes XV because they live right next door.
The Deschenes are new to Sudbury and recently bought the house that stands next to the Kinsmen House.
"We moved in April," Stephanie said. "We just moved to Sudbury, we're brand new to the whole area."
The winning ticket, purchased by Chris for Stephanie's birthday, was one of the 4,985 tickets sold.
Chris thought "it would be nice just to win the $100 back".
"I'd have to say this is one of the more elaborate gifts I've ever received," Stephanie said.
On Friday only 3,400 out of 5,600 tickets were sold. Organizers need to sell at least 4,500 tickets to break even. They feared they'd have to turn to their line of credit to make up for the loss but when the last ticket was sold on Sunday afternoon, the final count was about 4,985 tickets.
That puts the profit around $50,000, according to Jack O'Hearn, co-chairman of the sweepstakes. Organizers are reconsidering their earlier thoughts of ending the annual event.
The bulk of the proceeds will be donated to the Walden Kinsmen Club and the Sudbury-Manitoulin Alzheimer's Society.
