RAFFLES: A good cause

It may have looked really fishy to an objective observer, but honestly the fix was not in: it was purely coincidental that almost everyone at our table at a recent fundraising event went home with some excellent goodies. One woman scored a basket full of premium chocolates; another friend took home some spa-quality deep-gray towels that she said would match her bathroom perfectly; and I won a basket full of cat paraphernalia (toys, catnip, cat-patterned socks and food bowls). The man across the table from us was looking increasingly forlorn at not being a winner -- until they drew the 50/50 raffle and he went home $120 richer.