(rdnewsNOW/Alessia Proietti)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19) and Alessia Proietti

life-changing

Kinsmen of Red Deer draw winner of Dream Home Lottery

Mar 18, 2023 | 3:16 PM

A Red Deer man and his family got the thrill of their life this week when they found out they’d won the Kinsmen Lottery Dream Home.

Joe Eufemia, a local tile installer, recently bought a ticket for this year’s lottery.

Eufemia admits he’s still in a state of shock, but funny enough he wasn’t home when the Kinsmen and media came-a-knockin’ this past Thursday to surprise him with the news.

His wife was home, however, and he recalls the phone conversation which ensued.

“First, my wife asks me if I’m still driving, and I told her I was just getting into Calgary where I was taking our daughter to dance,” he shares.

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“She asked me to pull over, I asked why, she said it was because she needed to tell me something, and I insisted to just tell me because I’ve multitasked before. So she asks me if I bought a lottery ticket, and I said yes, so she tells me that I won the house and that there’s a bunch of people outside.”

It was a surreal moment, he says.

“My daughter was in the backseat with her eyes wide open like a deer in the headlights. I didn’t get any sleep that night. I don’t think it’s set in yet.”

Eufemia shares he usually buys a Kinsmen Lottery ticket, and has even worked on their dream homes before as a tile installer.

“We haven’t had a chance to talk about what we’re going to do yet, and I haven’t actually seen the inside, so that’ll be the first thing,” he says.

Proceeds from the lottery support Kinsmen initiatives. Over the last 10 years, Kinsmen Club of Red Deer has donated over $500,000 to local groups and programs, including the NICU at Red Deer Regional Hospital, the Grow Boys leadership program, Camp Alexo and Youth HQ, and Aspire Special Needs Resource Centre, just to name a few.

Len Sisco, Kinsmen Dream Home Chair, says the community’s generosity is hard to put into words.

“We have an extreme amount of gratitude. If people weren’t buying the tickets, there are so many people it would affect negatively. We changed the winners’ lives today, but all the organizations we assist, we do the same for them,” says Sisco.

“They wouldn’t be able to operate as well as they do if we didnt have this lottery. We put a lot of pride into our community work and we’re so happy to help how we can.”

A full list of all prize winners will be listed after March 21.

For more information about the Kinsmen, visit reddeerkinsmen.com.