An Owensboro Woman’s Phone Went Wild When She Won a Purse a Kentucky Fundraiser

Last Thursday night, the RiverPark Center in downtown Owensboro, KY hosted its first-ever Bourbon & Bags for Broadway fundraiser. The evening featured live and silent auctions of exclusive and rare bourbons and designer handbags. It was incredibly successful and ended up raising $84,705 to help fund RiverPark's 'Broadway' initiative, which makes the arts accessible to disadvantaged kids in our community and beyond.

Bourbon & Bags for Broadway also featured an exciting Louis Vuitton raffle. There was a Louis bag worth $2000 up for grabs and tickets were sold for $25 a piece. The big reveal of the winner's identity was the final piece of business for the night. I was the emcee of the event and that's how we decided to close the show.

So, picture it! I was standing on stage ready to announce the winner. I was handed the ticket and was excited to see that my friend Carrie Kimbrell's name was on that winning ticket. I knew that I hadn't seen her that night, but also realized it was possible that she was somewhere in the crowd and we just hadn't crossed paths yet.  But, we were about to!  I was about to present her with a brand new Louis Vuitton.  Or was I?

I called out Carrie's name and there was zero response. It was then almost immediately clear that Carrie wasn't at the event. Per the raffle rules, ticket holders didn't have to be present to win. Carrie wasn't present. Not even close.

So, I did the next best thing. From the stage, I called her- on speakerphon- from my cell. Only, she didn't answer my call.

Then, someone in the audience said, "Text her!" THAT suggestion was BRILLIANT!  That's exactly what I and virtually every other person in the crowd did. With the microphone in hand, I gave out Carrie's cell phone number to the entire crowd. I told them, "Get your cell phones out and text the words 'You won!' to her."

Boy, did they?

Carrie and I chatted on my radio show the next day about the big reveal. This is hilarious and you won't believe how much her phone blew up.

There you have it! 72 text messages, 12 missed FaceTime calls and over 20 missed phone calls. That's how you deliver some good news!

And speaking of deliveries, later that evening Carrie got a surprise visit from her friends Danna Johnson and Emmy Woosley, who showed up at the house with the prized Louis Vuitton!

By the way, that particular raffle- the one Carrie unwittingly won- raised over $7000 of that $84,000+ grand total!