Braffle Entrant Wins An 'Absurd Grand Prize' From The Rotary Club

BRANFORD, CT — Karen Anderson will be dining out on the Branford Rotary Club for months – the Branford resident recently won the club's annual raffle, taking home $5,000 in gift cards to restaurants throughout town.

Anderson won the Absurd Grand Prize in the "Braffle," earning her 50 $100 gift cards – each to a different restaurant – after initially buying only a single Braffle ticket after seeing an ad for the raffle on Facebook.

"I saw the ad again and it said there was still more tickets, so I said, 'You know, I'm gonna buy some more,'" Anderson said in a news release from Rotary Club webmaster Andy Marlatt. "I just thought the idea of Braffle, and the cause, that was fantastic. And I thought, 'Who wouldn’t like to win some free food?' And I don’t cook, so it was perfect!"

The "Ridiculous Second Prize" – $50 gift cards to 50 different Branford restaurants – went to Branford's Craig Allen, and eight other people won $100 gift cards to be used at the restaurant of their choice.

The fundraiser sold all 3,000 tickets that were made available, the Rotary Club said, earning $60,000 – 80 percent of which will go to Branford Counseling & Community Services' Basic Needs program, which helps struggling families pay for food, rent and utilities.

First Selectman Jamie Cosgrove pulled the winning numbers during the live-streamed Braffle drawing on July 27. Cosgrove called the event "tremendous" and thanked the Rotary Club members for their work.

"(Rotarians) are what makes Branford a great community,” Cosgrove said in a statement. "Thank you to all the people in town that have (bought tickets) and supported this drawing this year and last year, and on behalf of the town, thank you for supporting the Basic Needs program."

Branford Rotary President Ginny Page called Braffle "a win-win," noting that the raffle supports both Branford residents and the town's restaurants.

The Rotary Club is planning to hold another Braffle in 2022, Marlatt said in the news release.