SPOKANE, Wash. — Once the twinkling lights of Christmas Tree Elegance fade, 18 lucky people will receive a windfall of cash and prizes. Winners bring home nearly $5,000 in loot but past winners have an important piece of advice: Count your blessings and pay it forward.
It’s a motto for Sandra VanDoren and her family.
The daycare owner hit the Christmas tree jackpot in 2016 when organizers pulled her raffle ticket.
VanDoren won just as her family needed a miracle the most. Her sister and brother-in-law, CJ and Danny Meek, were facing the tough realities of kidney failure. Meek needed a new kidney, but first he needed the money be active on the transplant list.
Family Affair
From the start, Christmas Tree Elegance was a family affair. VanDoren, her sister, and their mother Florence Schafroth had been attending the event together for eight years.
“Everyone gets busy during the holidays and we don’t spend time the three of us just hanging out with each other,” explained VanDoren.
And in 2016, pulling together as a family was more critical than ever.
“The funds are astronomical,” CJ explained while detailing her husband’s expensive six-year journey from impending kidney failure to qualifying for the transplant list.
She needed to raise almost $10,000 to secure Danny a spot on the transplant list at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.
Hospital officials could not give specifics. But Brenda Fairman, transplant program manager, said families are given an amount to pay before being active members of the kidney transplant list. The amount is what insurance won’t cover. It varies depending on insurance company and coverage plans. According to Fairman, most patients must guarantee the money to cover anti-rejection drugs following their transplant.
It left CJ with one option— fundraising.
Winning Call
While planning those fundraisers, the family received a life-changing call.
“We were pinching ourselves, did we really win?” she exclaimed.
Their mother didn’t believe it, either.
VanDoren, known as the family prankster, had received the call about winning Christmas Tree Elegance but struggled to convince her family it was real.
“We were convinced we were going to win,” VanDoren recalled. “I knew we were going to win and I was still shocked when we did.
Mother Christmas prizes and 2016 tree
Of the 18 trees on display, the family won tree #13 titled “Mother Christmas.” It took three vans to transport all of the prizes from the Davenport to VanDoren’s east Spokane home.
Among their haul was $1,000 cash, a zip line adventure, climbing lessons, toys and loads of gift certificates.
Paying it Forward
Once the shock wore off, the three women decided how to divide up the prizes. The money went directly to VanDoren’s brother-in-law Danny. Only prizes they could use as a family were saved. Everything else was donated.
“To think of all the tickets they sell,” questioned Schafroth. “And that we had one pulled with our name, with our family, that we can pay it forward. Because that’s all we could think about if we won. Just think of who we could give things to. That was important.”
The toys went to kids and families in need.
For Schafroth, giving back was the most exciting part of winning.
“I hope each person that wins a tree would at least give two of their gift items away to somebody.”
The rest of gift certificates and prizes were repurposed to raise money for Meek’s kidney transplant. CJ raffled off all of her prizes during a fundraiser benefiting her husband.
She estimated they raised almost $5,500.
Saving Danny
The raffle was one of four fundraisers she has organized in the past few years with help from the Hauser Lake Fire Department.
Meek volunteered as a firefighter for 37 years in Hauser, Idaho. He also cherished his role as Santa during the fire department’s annual Breakfast with Santa. The even benefits a local child diagnosed with a serious illness and Hauser firefighters have hosted it for more than 30 years. Meek played Santa for nearly ten of those years.
Meek eventually qualified as an active member of the kidney transplant list, however, his health continues to fail as he waits. The former firefighter has had both of his legs amputated. His most recent surgery was this fall.
Meek no longer plays Santa, but hopes to attend the upcoming breakfast in December. His family continues to look for a kidney donor while raising money. Another fundraiser is planned for February to offset their medical bills. Donations can be made in his name at any Mountain West Bank branch or the Hauser Lake Fire Department (more information below).
The Meeks credit Christmas Tree Elegance in helping when they needed it the most.
With tears in her eyes, CJ described it a “Godsend.”
“It was a small answer to our prayers on being able to have enjoyment, excitement and having presents under the tree,” she said. “And then being able to know that some of the stuff that we had we could use for the fundraiser.”
Giving Back
Their family also paid it forward by helping in the next Christmas Tree Elegance.
Winners are asked to volunteer the next year according to VanDoren. It can be something as simple as wrapping presents or cleaning up.
Giving back to the Spokane Symphony Associates who organize Christmas Tree Elegance was a small token of their gratitude. It’s a gesture they believe should be repeated by every winner.
“You see all of the families and people that do without. Surely, they can give up something to somebody else,” Schafroth said.
VanDoren echoed that idea and credited her mom with their pay-it-forward attitude.
“I think that’s what the holidays should be about. It’s not about just buying presents and the doing the commercial type things, but actually spending time with your family and paying it forward to those who need it," she said.
And as for the remaining tree #13 prizes, Schafroth saved the tree. She also still has the Christmas stockings and the empty boxes wrapped as presents. They removed the mannequin which served as the tree topper during Christmas Tree Elegance. But everything else is on display each Christmas in her living room.
VanDoren and her family plan to attend Christmas Tree Elegance this week and enter the raffle. So what happens if they win again?
It’s an easy answer.
Schafroth said she would love the chance to pay it forward again and hopes the next winners find the same enjoyment in it.
“I hope the people will, at least part of them, will give something to some families so that everybody can have a Merry Christmas,” she said.
Helping Danny
The Meek family asks anyone inserted in helping to either consider becoming an organ donor or make a monetary donation. The Meeks family has donations setup at the following locations:
Mountain West Bank Branches (find a location)
Account: Danny Meek (MSA)
Hauser Lake Fire Department
Care of Danny Meek Fundraiser
10728 N. Hauser Lake Rd
Post Falls, ID 83854
Cowboy Dinner – Fundraiser for Danny Meek
What: Steak dinner
When: Saturday, February 23, 2019
Where: Calvary Lutheran Church
Calvary Lutheran Church, 1011 N. Compton St, Post Falls ID 83854
Cost: $15.00 per beef dinner (all ages)
$5.00 for kids and (kids at heart) mac-n-cheese dinner
