$220K Draw Thursday In Christmas Without Cancer Queen of Hearts

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Having to buy a bigger drum for all the Queen of Hearts raffle tickets is a good problem to have. Christmas Without Cancer’s Queen of Hearts Raffle has swelled to $220.000. The big draw will be pulled at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, at St. James Place in Oak Lawn.

"People have been so generous, but the suspense has reached a level we never dreamed of," said Gerri Neylon, Christmas Without Cancer founder, who with her organization vice president, Renee Copeland, goes "live" on Christmas Without Cancer’s Facebook page every Thursday.
Neylon wouldn't have it any other way.

"We especially prefer our former patients stay home because they are still at risk," said Neylon. "Saint James has done a great job of keeping its number of patrons in check, creating spacing and requiring masks, while at the same time creating a ten-minute show that's fun and exciting to watch from home through Facebook."

With only four cards left and the grid numbers down to a select few, this successful campaign will come to a screeching halt. Volunteers have been coming religiously to Saint James Place to sell tickets. Online ticket sales have closed, but tickets can be purchased at the bar up to 15 minutes before the drawing.

Saint James Place, 5305 W. 95th St., Oak Lawn, the family-owned establishment, has hosted CWC’s Queen of Hearts raffle week after week since the Spring 2019, building a large pot — more than $220,000 — earmarked for families fighting cancer. By power of elimination, a single winner would have been named by now, if not for the pandemic that shut down businesses. The winner will share 50 percent of the pot when Queen is drawn in the next four weeks. The other half raised will be earmarked for local families impacted by cancer.

"Our volunteers have been so dedicated to this Thursday night crusade, I hope they know how much we appreciate them," said Neylon. "We couldn't have done this without them."

Christmas Without Cancer's mission helps families in Evergreen Park, as well as those in Oak Lawn, Beverly/Morgan Park, Mount Greenwood, Oak Forest, Alsip, Mokena and beyond.
Christmas Without Cancer, an organization started by Neylon, comes to the rescue of those impacted by cancer. The Evergreen Park volunteer group assesses need and pays such things as utility bills and mortgage payments, gas, parking and children in need of wrapped presents. Copeland has taken the grassroots organization into today's competing arenas in which technology, especially in these strange times, is the commerce of the day.

Questions on donations and additional information on www.Christmaswithoutcancer.org can be directed to christmaswithoutcancer@gmail.com