Suzanne Daub won $10K at last year's Chamber drawing
So what did she do with the money?
BY MARLI GUZZETTA INDEPENDENT ARTS EDITOR
Suzanne Daub would have been happy to split the $10,000.

Suzanne Daub and her family used the money they won at last year's "Survivor Challenge" to buy a plot of land and a home for this Indian family, which the Daubs sponsor through the Franciscan Family Apostelate.

An impoverished family in India is happy Daub didn't get her way.

According to Daub, the co-owner of Nantucket.net, Yesterday's Island and the "Nantucket Directory," she would have chosen to split the $10,000 among the remaining 10 participants, as the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce allows for its annual bingo-like "Survivor Challenge" drawing, which whittles its 250 participants either into 10 winners of $1,000 or one winner of $10,000. The Chamber sells tickets for the drawing in order to raise money for its student scholarship. Tickets are $100 apiece for the event, which will be held at Faregrounds Restaurant on June 7.

"You go into Faregrounds, and there's a big board and this thing that looks like a lottery ball dispenser. If your number gets drawn, you're out, and the last 10 people remaining on the board either decide to split or not to split the winnings, but it has to be unanimous," explained Daub, who would have been happy to make the split. But one of the 10 finalists did not attend the drawing and wrote nosplit in absentia on the ticket. So the drawings continued from 10, 9, 8 … in the final draw, it was Daub and the finalist who did not attend.

"It's a little scary to be standing up there in the last 10," Daub remembered.

People on the room were animated, snacking, drinking - wanting to see how it would end.

"Oh my God, I can't believe I won."

That was Daub's first thought when she realized she'd gotten the whole kitty.

"I don't think I even thought, 'What am I going to do with this?' until the next day, when it all sank in."

Everyone had suggestions as to what the Daubs should do with the money.

"I thought, 'You know, I want to do something meaningful with some of it.' Not that paying tuition isn't meaningful," said Daub, whose web designer, Juanita ("Miki") Lovett, introduced the Daubs several years prior to a charity called the Franciscan Family Apostolate - an organization that advocates for impoverished Indian families by connecting them with donors throughout the world willing to purchase their needs. (GuideStar lists its American office as being located in Guilford, Ct.) The program allows benefactors to make regular or one-time contributions, to purchase things as simple as clothes and as complicated as property and a house.

"It's one of those things you talk about. You see those heart-wrenching commercials on TV, and you think, 'Oh, I should do something with that.' But then your skepticism gets the best of you, and you wonder how much of the money goes to marketing, administration etcetera," Daub said. "This organization is small and low key … when you give them money, it goes to the family you're sponsoring, so you feel a connection between your family and that family and we really like that aspect. Another thing I like about the program is that it aims to get people on their feet, to give them a leg up, so they can take care of themselves."

Xavier and Christina are raising their family in Alleppey, located in southern India. Xavier is a fisherman, whose work is sporadic - dependent on the fish and the labor needed. An accident left him with a bad back and medical needs. Christina works with coir. Their daughter, who is 8 years old, goes to school. Their son is just under 4 years old and asthmatic.

The Daubs began sponsoring them several years before the Chamber drawing. At the time, the family lived as squatters in a shack on beach wasteland, and their home was destroyed about once a month during the monsoon season, said Daub, who sent them financial aid when this happened.

When the daze of winning money lifted, the Daubs remembered that they had been thinking about purchasing land and a home for the family they sponsored in India.

"When I brought it up, everyone thought, 'What a great idea.,'" remembered Daub, who contacted the organization, which then walked them through the steps necessary for purchasing land and a home for the family.

"This didn't even take the whole $7,500, or whatever we ended up with after taxes. But winning the drawing encouraged us to make the commitment," Daub said. "It was so much fun to be able to do it. It was so nice not to have the money go into the black hole that everyone has of budget."

The Daubs keep a picture on their refrigerator of the family (which is how this writer learned of the story during a chance visit to the Daub's home). Beside the photo is a letter the family sent as thanks - printed on a typewriter by someone in the village who knew English.

"Here, we think nothing of paying $5 for a cup of coffee, or going out to dinner and paying $100 easily for a dinner for two," she said. "But when you start doing this, you realize how much the money means to these people."

Because of the language barrier, the Daubs have to go through an interpreter each time they communicate with the family. "It's hard to gauge what their entire thoughts were, but they seem to be very pleased."

For the sake of the family's privacy, Daub asked that we not quote the contents of the letter, but suffice it to say that the family had an enthusiastic and religious experience, learning about their imminent gift.

Lovett went over to India and visited them last year. She came bearing gifts.

"I think the church over there works closely with the family, because they knew what the kids most wanted. The little girl got a new dress, and Lovett said the little girl was so excited."

Currently, the family has purchased the land and are in the process of having their new home built.

"Helping gets you away from the day-to-day, 'gotta get the work done, gotta make the money' mentality," Daub said. "It makes you stop and think about the

world, and how it's wonderful to help." I

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE $10,000

"SURVIVOR CHALLENGE"

When: Thurs., June 7, 6 p.m. - 10 p.m. Where: Faregrounds Restaurant Cost: $100 to participate. Tickets are available

at the Chamber, upstairs at 48 Main Street

For more information on the drawing,

call 228-3643. For more on the Franciscan Family Apostolate, go to www.openhearts.org.