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This year’s St. Jude Dream Home® Giveaway winner hails from Suffolk, Virginia. Megan Richardson, who says she has been donating to the giveaway since 2009, was named the winner of the 5-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom home located in Suffolk’s Bennett’s Creek area. The home has an estimated value of $715,000. 

“It seems like a great charity to donate to and we liked the idea of ‘Hey, we might get a house out of it.’ And this year, it actually worked out that way,” Richardson said.

Richardson says that she “couldn’t believe any of it.” She says that while the drawing was going on, she and her family had just gotten back from vacation when she soon got a phone call she didn’t recognize.

“… and I actually declined it and said, ‘Oh, they’ll leave me a message.’ And then 20 minutes later, they called back and I said, ‘Okay, you’re going to be that persistent. I’ll see what you want.’”

Originally believing it to be a survey, the call turned out to be Ariana Rogers from the St. Jude Dream Home® Giveaway telling Richardson that she was the official winner.

“I felt like I slipped into ‘The Twilight Zone,’” Richardson said. “I said, ‘Is this a joke? You’re kidding, right? You’re messing with me.’ And it took her a good minute to probably convince me that she wasn’t messing with me as I had actually won.”

After taking a look inside, Richardson says it’s a “beautiful home,” and she and her family are excited about their new adventure. She thanked St. Jude for its mission to help support children in need.

“Keep up the great work. It’s a fantastic charity,” she said.

Likewise, she says this won’t be the last time she donates to St. Jude during the giveaway.

“I intend to continue to buy Dream Home tickets in the future. Don’t expect to win again. I would like to do it just to support them,” she said. “And thank you so much for the house, it’s gorgeous!”

For more information, go to www.stjude.org.

Editor’s note: Updated first sentence at 2:38 p.m., Thursday, June 27 to reflect accuracy.