In early July, Sarah Heinrich's dad, Mark, entered her in the LFNC 2008 Toyota Prius Give-Away drawing that was scheduled for mid-July. He also entered his other daughter, Nadia, in the same drawing. Mark and his wife, Maria, have been supportive members and donors of the LFNC since 1991.
18-year old Sarah knew she was entered in the drawing but never considered she might be the winner, as her family has entered most of the Foundation's car drawings for the past eight years. No one in the family sat by phone the evening of the drawing because everyone had forgotten all about it.
The day after the drawing, her parents told her she was the winner of the 2008 Toyota Prius. She didn't believe it at first. Many of her friends had warned her about the various kinds of fraudulent schemes that people encounter all the time, and she thought that surely this was just another scam.
She listened and replayed the voice mail message from Jo Dewhirst, executive director of the LFNC, informing her that she was the winner. Her father, Mark, called Jo to confirm, as well as calling Jonathon Latchford, the sales manager of Toyota of Palo Alto. With all these reassurances, Sarah ultimately believed she was the real winner.
San Mateo resident, Sarah, recently graduated from Notre Dame High School in Belmont. She will be entering San Jose State as a freshman in September. She will major in psychology and said, "Perhaps some day I will be a therapist."
Her mother, Maria, has had lupus for around 17 years. Maria also has had multiple sclerosis for the past 11 years and, unfortunately, is confined to a wheelchair. Sarah commented, "She gets around in spite of being handicapped and will enjoy riding in my new car." Mark added, "Maria can't walk on her own and has many mobility issues. She is always in good spirits and accompanies the family on all of our outings, with the exception of going on boat rides. Sarah and Nadia like to fish with me on the family fishing boat at Anderson Reservoir. Maria excuses herself from these adventures because she is very sun sensitive."
Mark added, "when the family goes on longer trips and hauls the boat with their RV motor home, Maria will come along, too, but she usually camps out in the air-conditioned motor home."
Mark is an engineering manager and works for Texas Instruments in Sunnyvale. Sarah's 20-year old sister, Nadia, is currently taking on-line classes at the College of San Mateo and is a full-time dog groomer at Petsmart.
When asked how she sees herself using her new car, Sarah said, "Since I will be living on campus, I can use the car to hang out with my friends and stay out even later since I won't have curfews any more."
She concluded, "I don't have any trips planned in my new car right now, but our family does a lot of camping so we will probably be using the car for that before too long."
