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Special Olympics Montana raffle winner gets her new pickup truck

Kandace Konola of Butte with MTN reporter Tom Wylie

By: Tom Wylie

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GREAT FALLS — Kandace Konola of Butte, the winner of the Special Olympics Montana MTN Chevy truck raffle, stopped by City Motors in Great Falls on Tuesday to pick up the keys to her new Chevy Silverado.

Konola was the owner of the lucky ticket, which she bought at a Town Pump store. She has volunteered for Special Olympics Montana events in the past and is happy her ticket helped support athletes that she’s grown fond of over the years.

“In Butte, I volunteered, and we did stuff like the softball throw whenever the Special Olympics came to Butte. And so, I had a great time doing that, met a lot of great athletes and a lot of great people,” Konola said. “And it’s an honor to be able to take this truck for Special Olympics Montana and be able to give back to the community and to Special Olympics Montana.”

When Konola’s ticket was drawn, she didn’t answer the phone when SOMT tried to contact her. When she listened to the message left on her voicemail later, it took her some time to try and process the news: “I thought it was a scam at first,” she laughed. “And I had forgotten even that I purchased the ticket, because it was a long time before that and I just am glad that I listened to the message again and realized a little later on that it was true, and it was just amazing.”

Konola is the president of Butte non-profit Kiel’s Konnection and sees a lot of similarities between her work and the work of Special Olympics. “Kiel’s Konnection is in memory of my son. He was killed in a car accident in 2013 and it’s a program to help people with mental health diagnoses,” she explained. “So, we started that in his memory, and we just try to help our community and stop the stigma surrounding mental health. We both help people.”

A total of 99,861 raffle tickets were sold in 2021, which generated $545,670 for Special Olympics Montana.

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