Dare to Dream…

Last night, I was lying in bed trying to stay awake, waiting for Spider-Man to come home from a friends while Bones was tucked soundly in her bed…when I read a tweet saying that there was half an hour left to purchase tickets to the Bryony House “Dare to Dream Lottery.”

Crap.

I’d had every intention of writing about the lottery to help spread the word…then things got busy.

The “Dare to Dream Lottery” was started by a couple of women…one who was building her family dream home and another who was trying to come up with an idea to build a much-needed expansion at Bryony House…a transition home for women and children escaping domestic abuse. The two hatched a plan and a family dream home turned into a lottery draw! Just like that.

Well…sort of.

Once the prizes were arranged (there are many including multiple cars, trips and cash) and things were in order, there really wasn’t a whole lot left for marketing…and ticket sales kind of went bust.

The original plan was to sell 60,000 tickets and last night…on the final night…there was a media push to try to reach ONE THIRD of that number before the lottery closed.

They made it to 16,000.

I swear I meant to write about it!

In my cozy house. With my happy children. Where I’ve never had to face any kind of domestic abuse. Where I’ve never had to flee a horrific situation or cover up bruises. Where I’ve a voice that can spread the word on causes that are brought to my attention and I feel are important…I should have done more.

So, with 25 minutes left, I went online. While I’m not flush with cash, I thought I’d see about buying a few 50/50 tickets, however, soon discovered you couldn’t purchase those without purchasing a ticket to the home (which completely makes sense)…and, at $100 a ticket, I was left wanting to help but with a budget too tight to do so!

I did what any other self-respecting 46 year old woman would do…I texted my Dad.

Note: the Dare/Date freudian slip…it’s possible it’s time for me to start dating! Also, note the “Yes, will I call you?” that, believe me…at 11:36 which was 12:06 in Newfoundland where Mom and Dad are vacationing…came with a bit of panic on his end as I’m sure he figured something urgent was up!

Which it was!

And my phone rang.

DARE to dream I said…followed by a brief explanation of what was going on and his response of “will you buy them for us if I give you my Visa number…I’m not near a computer.”

And, in the next few minutes, we filled out the online form and purchased tickets in the nick of time.

Note: I happen to know his Visa number by heart but still have him recite it to me to make him feel better! 

I felt more rested…a little. I’d spread the word. A little.

But it wasn’t enough.

This morning…a message on Bryony House’s Dare to Dream Facebook Page said this:

“We would like to thank all the people that supported Bryony House. We really gave it our best to sell at least 20,000 tickets out of the 60,000 we have in place by the deadline. Unfortunately we weren’t able to. Not because of the cause or the prizes, it’s because we just don’t have the budget to put it out there. So there’s a lot of people that still don’t even know we exist. Unfortunately we have to extend the deadline until October 30th not because we want to because we need to. “

UNFORTUNATELY? How about THANK GOODNESS!

Bryony House is an amazing place that provides shelter to women and their children fleeing from domestic abuse. MUCH funding is required in order for this shelter to exist. MANY volunteers are behind the scenes trying to make things happen year after year and THIS year…one woman gave up her family’s dream home, valued at 1.2 million dollars, to help the cause!

Surely we can purchase a few more tickets to help make this expansion a reality! THIRTY more beds are needed because there are far too many women and children facing violence EVERY SINGLE DAY!

We have until October 30th. Please SHARE this post if you can’t afford a ticket yourself. Tell someone you know who might be able to help.

With the craziness of September’s bills behind me…hopefully by the end of October, I’ll be able to get a ticket of my own.

Who doesn’t love a lottery like this? One with fantastic prizes…and an end result that will help so many women and children in need…Dare to Dream! 

Pssssttt… If you like my posts, click HERE to vote for The Coast’s Best of Halifax City Awards 2014 for Best Blogger! Voting continues until October 1st – one vote per person. You guys are the best!