From left, Kent Ritchey, president of Landers Ford in Collierville, Tenn, presented Amy Wilson of Cranberry Township with the keys to a Ford Explorer she won as Don Kitchens, the dealership's managing partner looks on.

CRANBERRY TWP — Amy Wilson, 39, of Cranberry Township got an unexpected bonus when she went to Memphis Dec. 2 to run a half-marathon to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Not only did she raise nearly $4,410 for the hospital, but she won a 2018 Ford Explorer.

The stay-at-home mother of three, said, “It was a fundraising thing. Landers Ford in Collierville, Tenn., has donated a car the last several years to go to a St. Jude's hero.

“You had to raise $500 in a certain period of time to be eligible,” she said. “Before the race, they called me on Monday to notify me that I had won. It was very exciting.”

“It's still in Tennessee. There's paperwork to fill out that goes through the dealership and through the legal team at St. Jude's,” said Wilson.

Wilson said she runs not for prizes but to help raise money for the hospital and to be with her friends.

Running took on an additional meaning, she said, when she joined Team Smiles for Sophie Forever.

Wilson said, “ I met Sophie's mom, Emily Quayle, when we lived in Avon Lake, Ohio.

“Sophie had diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a rare inoperable and incurable form of brain cancer. Sophie was treated at St. Judes. She fought for 7.5 months and died at the age of four,” Wilson said.

A full story appeared in the Butler Eagle.