Nicole Larson and daughter, Brie Larson, touring the 2020 Dream Home with Bryce Herman of the Kamloops YMCA/YWCA. (Image Credit: CFJC Today / Kent Simmonds)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

2020 Y DREAM HOME

‘I just can’t believe it’: Longtime ticket buyer becomes 2020 Y Dream Home winner

Jul 8, 2020 | 4:03 PM

KAMLOOPS — Nicole Larson has been buying tickets in the Kamloops Y Dream Home Lottery for nearly 20 years. That loyalty paid off Wednesday morning (June 8), when she found out she won the 2020 Dream Home.

CFJC Today spoke with Larson after she and her daughter Brie arrived at the house.

“I’m not normally speechless,” Larson says. “I usually can find something to say, but yeah, I just can’t believe it.”

Larson currently lives in Brocklehurst with her daughter. The pair were touring inside the house just an hour after the draw, and are still wrapping their heads around the reality of winning.

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“Every year I say, ‘Oh maybe we’ll win the dream home’, and she (Brie) is like, ‘Yeah, back to reality’, because you never think you’re going to win. You hope, but you never think you’re going to win.”

It’s not the first win for Larson in the overall lottery; back in 2001 while she was pregnant with her now-grown daughter, she won a vehicle in the prize draw. Since then, Larson says she hadn’t expected to win something as substantial as a house.

Several past winners have sold their prize homes, but Larson says she’d actually previously looked into buying a house in the Orchard’s Walk area, so she and her daughter plan to move in as soon as they can.

“It’s a nice location for me and my daughter,” she explains. “She’ll be going up to university next year, and I work on the reserve, so it’s an easy commute.”

Nicole Larson, this year’s 2020 Kamloops Y Dream Home winner. ( Image Credit: CFJC Today / Kent Simmonds)

This year’s lottery was done online, with winners chosen using randomizer software. Tickets sold out within days, which gave much needed financial relief to the Kamloops YMCA/YWCA.

Dream Home spokesperson Bryce Herman says it was nerve-wracking to go with a different lottery operation this year, but he was glad to see the success.

“The funds from this lottery will stabilize them (Kamloops YMCA / YWCA). It will give them the ability to carry through for a period of time here with COVID — still keep their key people, work on keeping the public safe, and still have a survival mechanism in place.”

The money raised stays local, supporting the Y’s fitness operations, child-minding services, volunteer programs and the emergency women’s shelter administration. With the recent economic impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, Herman says all the people who worked on this year’s draw were grateful that the community came out to take part.

“The people of Kamloops have been amazing with the support that they’ve given, and I don’t take that lightly. And I don’t take it lightly that our sponsors have been tried and true and have said that we will stick with you through this.”

For Larson, the lottery has shown how a charitable contribution can lead to a life-changing benefit.

“I support the Y in two different ways: by buying a ticket, but my employer also donates concrete for the houses every year,” she explains. “So it’s just a good thing to do for the community.”