Meal money buys winning ticket in Dream Home Lottery

When Steve Munroe came out of camp with $100 of meal money still in his pocket, he decided to spend it on a ticket for the Prince George Hospice Dream Home Lottery.

"I was thinking 'free ticket,' so I bought one," he said.

Munroe, 31, his wife, Kayla, 32, and their three kids can now say they have a free house as his ticket was drawn Thursday night for the grand prize of a three-bedroom upscale home in the Creekside Properties neighbourhood.

The family was in "disbelief" when they heard the news and were all smiles and excitement as they toured the home on Stillwater Crescent.

It was the first time he had bought a ticket for the Hospice lottery although Kayla said her husband "buys tickets for everything."

That said, she didn't know her husband had bought the Dream Home Lottery ticket until she found it hanging on the household peg board. In fact, she had recently cleared a bunch of out-of-date tickets off the board. Luckily, she had checked the draw date for the ticket that won them the home and held that one back.

And just six hours before it was drawn, the Munroes were at Real Canadian Superstore and walked past a table selling tickets to win a car.

"I said, 'aw, I don't have two bucks on me,'" Steve said. "And she said 'I just threw away a pile of your tickets, quit buying, you're never going to win.'"

Munroe is a lead hand at Canada West Belting and spends about 95 per cent of his work time at the Ekati diamond mine in the Northwest Territories, going in for two weeks at a time. Kayla is a stay-at-home mother who keeps an eye on daughters Brooke, 11, Gracie, 4, and son, Jack, 3.

Born and raised in Prince George, they lived in a home on two acres in the Hart for about five years. It's worth about half the value of the home they won, which is appraised at $465,000.

The Dream Home covers 2,447 square feet and was custom built by Fortwood Homes and designed by Lasting Impressions Interior Design.

It features three bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, a bonus family room and a stunning kitchen, as well as a double garage, an outside basement entrance and six appliances.

Up until Friday, they had 18 years left on their mortgage. They'll likely sell both the homes they now own and look for another acreage.

"This is a life changer," Kayla said. "Things are going to be a lot different."