Life-changing money for Hogs raffle winner

The week leading up to the August 11 Hogs for Hospice 50-50 Raffle was a relaxing one for Melissa D’Angela, as she spent some time in Muskoka enjoying the summer.

“I spent a nice week relaxing and not knowing that my life would change so drastically,” she said as she collected her winnings of $455,120 on Tuesday, August 15.

The bubbly 30-yearold real estate agent from Windsor was thrilled to receive her cheque from Hogs for Hospice board members at the Hospice, Erie Shores Campus.

“This is life-changing for me,” she said. “It’s overwhelming. Your life changes overnight.”

She was at home unwinding from her trip when she decided to go on social media to check for the draw results.

“I was nervously trying to verify the number when my phone rang,” she said. “It just said ‘maybe Joe’, so I thought I’d better answer it.

Sure enough, on the other end was Joe Oswald and all the Hogs board members and the first question out of Oswald’s mouth was, “Could you use an extra 450-grand?”

Melissa says everything was a blur after that, as she celebrated with her dad, whom she lives with, once he got home.

“My dad was in tears,” she said. “It’s been a tough year so far.”

Oswald explained to D’Angela that she is now part of a special fraternity as she joins six other winners who have had life-changing money enter their lives through the draw.

“We’ve held seven of these now and have given out about $1.7 million,” he said. “And that means the other $1.7 million came back into hospice.”

Melissa joked that she had tried to buy tickets for her boyfriend the night before the draw but he declined and said, “Don’t waste your money. We won’t win.”

“When I called to tell him I won, he didn’t believe me,” she added.

Her plan for the big win is to explore her options.

“I want to take my time to map out what I want to do,” she said. “I’m getting lots of advice. Everyone has put in their two cents worth.”

She’s planning on investing most of it to give her some options later in life.