To begin with, Erin Byrnes was pretty excited to be attending the annual gala for a nonprofit that helps pregnant mothers and their children. She was all geared up to accept an award from Joseph's House for her volunteer work.

Turns out, Erin had even more reason to celebrate that evening: she won the big raffle prize, the SUV worth nearly seventy thousand dollars.

She spent the summer collecting cans and bottles just to be able to buy herself 60 raffle tickets for nearly $200 . 

When the 13-year-old beat the odds and had her name drawn from among 26,000 others, she promptly announced that she would be handing over the car for Joseph's House to use as they saw fit.

Erin is one of six children, so the family could have used the car—but her mother agreed that if she won, the choice of being generous and charitable was up to the young teen.

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(READ more at Syracuse.com – Photo courtesy of Jeanie Byrnes)

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