BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – A Sunrise Middle School teacher won a brand-new Toyota RAV4 this week in a raffle for the Broward Education Foundation.
Denise Calder is a teacher at Sunrise Middle School and entered the raffle by donating $5 from her paycheck to the charity.
"I think it's a very good reason to spend your money and invest where you also work and in what your passion is, which is my students and in education, and in other teachers, of course," she said.
The car was donated by Toyota of North Miami.
"My mom was a teacher for 42 years, so this is personal to me," Anthony Damato, of Toyota of North Miami, said.
The Broward Education Foundation supports scholarships, innovative teaching initiatives and school supplies.
Calder teaches social studies, English and debate, and her students said they are thrilled she won.
"Ms. Calder deserves this. She's a wonderful teacher. She cares more about us than herself," one student said.
"She's nice (and) she allows me to turn in late work. I have a lot of that," another student, Cayd Shafer, said.
Calder is tickled and hopes her win inspires more employees to give back.
"It's an absolute fluke, I think, but I am so grateful," she said.