By Jim Fagan
Nineteen-year-old Nicola Weyer is the owner of a brand-new Volkswagen Polo worth $22,568 – thanks to her mum, Janina, who bought the winning ticket in the Katie Rose Hospice car lottery.
Nicola is a university student in Brisbane and got the surprise of her life when she walked into her parents’ house in Noosa Heads just in time to hear Noosa Mayor Clare Stewart, who drew the raffle prizes, phone her mother with the good news.
“I was gobsmacked when mum said, ‘Darling, I’ve won you a car’ as I had just come home from Uni.”
Nicola did not have a car—at least until now. “It will be a lot easier getting home from Brisbane,” she said.
Second prize winner of $3000 wishes to remain anonymous and third prize of $1000 was won by Belinda Anstock of Doonan.
This was the charity’s first car raffle and, according to chairperson Carol Raye, it had huge support from well-wishers on the Sunshine Coast, especially its lottery partner, Cricks VW at Maroochydore,
“We raised $30,000 and it will go towards paying our registered nurses. Our core business is taking care of people who are dying and we need to fund our fantastic nurses who work 24/7.
“The State Government contributes 32per cent of the money needed for their salaries and we are always going to need the community to help fill the gap.
“Also, it is unusual not to have a waiting list of the terminally ill and we need to increase our number of rooms–go to four rooms, then five. We need new beds, even new fridges.”
Mayor Clare Stewart said, “It is a “massive privilege to be invited to draw the ticket for one lucky member in the community to win such a fantastic car as well as the money going to such a worthy cause. It’s a win, win.”
She said what Katie Rose did was incredibly important. “No one else is doing this kind of work. It’s second to none. This place is simply remarkable.”
She said there was great warmth and regard for Katie Rose and there had been wonderful donations by local businessmen like Ralph Rogers who provided the majority of the furnishings for the hospice.
“The fact is that Katie Rose is a great example of community support in every sense of the word. It has more than 250 volunteers rallying together for a cause and I am so incredibly proud to be a leader in this community that helps to provide this special service.
“Everyone here does such valuable work and we are all so grateful.”
