LAKE LIFE LOTTERY

“This Feels Like a Dream”

A young family of four from Kelowna has traded in a two-bedroom apartment for a $1.75 million Dream Home by Lake Okanagan after winning the KGH Foundation/ YMCA of Southern Interior BC’s first-ever Lake Life Lottery grand prize. Anokha Babu and her husband, Shaheen Ashraf, along with their two young children, took possession of their new four-bedroom, lake-view home on January 25. 

Anokha found out her name was drawn on December 15, in the final draw of the 2022 lottery. “It’s an incredible blessing for our entire family,” she says. “This feels like a dream. We have been trying to get a house for so long.” 

From Disappointment to Disbelief

Just the day before the Lake Life Lottery grand prize draw, Anokha and her family learned they were not successful in an offer they had put on a home they desperately hoped for. “We’ve struck out finding a house within our budget so many times over the last year that my son, Abdullah, has been praying for a place to call our own every night.”   

The very next day, the call came. Abdullah’s prayers had not gone unheard. “After learning we won, my son was the first person I told,” says Anokha. “I said, ‘Your prayers were strong!’” 

Anokha Babu, her husband, Shaheen Ashraf, and their two children in front of their new home.

A Plethora of Prizes

Lake Life Lottery is the only dream home lottery whose proceeds benefit local, Okanagan charities serving the interior region. Anokha says she doesn’t usually purchase lottery tickets but was compelled to contribute to the inaugural Lake Life Lottery, which represents a unique partnership between the KGH Foundation and the YMCA of Southern Interior of BC supporting physical, social and mental health initiatives in the region. Both Anokha and her husband work in the IT Department for Interior Health, and felt a personal connection to the cause.  

The lottery offered more than $2 million in prizes, including the dream home, a 50/50 pot worth more than $500,000, a luxury speedboat, a Mustang Ecoboost Convertible, and getaways to destinations including New York, France, Italy and Hawaii. 

Young Abdullah promised his mother that if they finally found a home, he would donate all his saved pocket money to charity. 

“We were beyond thrilled when we learned that our dream home had been won by a family that would benefit so greatly,” says Allison Ramchuk, CEO of the KGH Foundation. “Launching a new dream home lottery took more than a little faith and courage.  We hoped our communities would support a locally based home lottery.  And clearly, they did!  So many of our winners hailed from right here in the interior.” 

Abdullah is also planning to make good on his promise by making a donation to Kelowna General Hospital. 

Lake Life Lottery will be back in 2023! Tickets will go on sale this summer. Be sure to get yours… next year we could be telling your story!