Little Rock, Arkansas resident Jean Milner is a longtime OBI blood donor — she recalls first donating with us more than 30 years ago — so when she arrived at her local donation center in the spring of 2021, she didn't expect to experience anything out of the ordinary.
She certainly didn't expect to win an all-expenses-paid trip.
Milner did win a trip, though, courtesy of Our Blood Institute partner Dream Vacations.
And while she says "it felt great" to be awarded such a prize, she recalls feeling a little trepidation about where — and when — to go. Given that she won the trip only a few months after the first Covid vaccines were introduced, Milner, a retired nurse, hoped to wait until travel safety improved.
Fast forward to the fall of 2024, and Milner still hadn't been able to take advantage of her winning raffle ticket. She'd asked longtime neighbor and friend Jeanie Truesdell to join her, though she still didn't know quite where they'd be going. It wasn't until speaking with Dream Vacations franchise owner Dave Proudfit that they settled on a destination: Seattle, Washington.
But Proudfit, realizing neither woman had been to Seattle, did far more than recommend a visit to the Pacific Northwest: he offered to personally escort Milner and Truesdell on their weeklong sojourn in Seattle.
"Originally I was just going to fly them to Seattle and pay for Uber rides, things like that," said Proudfit, who lived in the area through much of the 1990s. "I determined it was almost impossible for them to see everything in Seattle that way."
And with that, plans were set for that October. "We were just so excited," Truesdell remembers.
For help researching your own "Dream Vacation" call Dave at 918-520-6890 or visit the website and enter their contest for a Free Italy Vacation for 2 guests. You will also receive their Free Weekly email newsletter.
