Susan Dana was shopping for Autumnal Harvest soup in Trader Joe’s on Wednesday evening when her cell phone rang and she saw Mayor Jerry Dyer’s name on the caller ID.

“I really thought it was someone from his team maybe calling for volunteers for Camp Fresno or something along those lines! I decided to answer it because I do love our Mayor!” Dana said in an email to GV Wire.

But it turned out Dyer was calling to let Dana know that she was the winner of the 2021 Granville Home of Hope, a fundraiser that benefits 11 local nonprofits with $800,000 in donations raised through ticket sales.

Dana told GV Wire she is a Fresno native, married to husband Roger for 27 years, a State Center Community College District employee, and a member of the CrossCity Christian Church since 2015 — “*I’m a Christian and I LOVE JESUS!”

She said she has purchased Home of Hope tickets through the Fresno Police Chaplaincy office for the past five years. Since 2006 the Granville Home of Hope event has raised more than $7.4 million to benefit local nonprofits, including the Fresno Police Chaplaincy.

Dana’s dream is to move her parents into the new home, a 1,658-square-foot house in Granville’s Canvas on the Bluffs gated neighborhood at Copper River Ranch in northeast Fresno that’s valued at more than $500,000.

“This is an amazing blessing, and I am so thankful,” she said.

Lexus Winners

Fresno Lexus was again a partner in the event and donated a two-year lease on a 2021 Lexus 200 that was raffled off during a live KSEE 24 telethon on Sept. 29. John and Kristi McMillen were the winners.

For more information about the Granville Home of Hope, go to gvhomeofhope.com.