Mary Loney of Ojai, California was not having the best morning on Superbowl Sunday. Her car had stopped running the day before, so she headed out to her driveway, toolbox in hand, to see what she could do to get it started.
Little did she know that during her time outside, Kelly Coleman of Save the Rain was leaving an excited message on her answering machine, informing her that her name had just been pulled as the raffle winner of a brand new, 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid 4x4.
Mount Shasta’s oldest resident, Reva Coon, who is 104 and a half years old drew Loney’s name as the winner for Save the Rain – a locally-based, non-profit organization which is committed to solving the world’s water crisis through the surprisingly simple means of harvesting rainwater. Since the organization’s conception three years ago, they have completed projects in 13 villages in Eastern Africa, helping 120,000 people get access to clean water.
Loney had purchased a single ticket for Save the Rain’s car raffle after the organization did a presentation at Thacher High School, where she is a secretary. When she came inside and listened to her messages, she couldn’t believe the good news. She decided to listen to it again, just to be sure – but she accidentally pressed the erase button instead of play.
Loney then e-mailed Save the Rain, which Kelly Coleman, one of the founders of Save the Rain, received the following day. “Yes,” she wrote back, “you heard correctly. You won the car.”
“It was so appropriate that she was our winner,” Coleman said. “Two of the founders of our organization attended school at Thacher, and after we spoke there, the entire community jumped on board with us. We’re pleased to present Mary with the car.”
Proceeds from the raffle will be combined with a grant from the Rotary Club, allowing Save the Rain to embark on their next trip to Tanzania, Africa, to work at a school and nearby hospital that do not currently have access to clean drinking water.
“We want to thank the entire community for their amazing support,” said Coleman. “In the eleventh hour, we saw a huge rally. Hundreds of tickets were sold just last week.”
Though Save the Rain “did well” on the car raffle, they are always looking for charitable donations to help them bring clean drinking water to the millions of Africans who currently go without, Coleman said. For more information about Save the Rain, visit their website at www.savetherain.org.
Mount Shasta, Calif. —
