Oh, well. It was for a good cause. . . . I took two chances but didn't win. . . .  The prize was a restored 1976 BMW auctioned off to raise funds for a new ambulance for a hospital in Tanzania, one of the world's poorest countries. (The raffle tickets cost $30 each, and that's roughly a week's wages in Tanzania.)

A bit of irony: Jack Gallagher of Great Falls, Va., purchased the winning ticket and, turns out, he once owned a '76 Beamer. It was totaled in an accident.

The auction was staged to purchase the ambulance for St. Elizabeth Hospital in Arusha, Tanzania.

"We've had a wonderful response," says Pam Protani, who organized the auction. "Our fundraising goal was $65,000 and as of Friday, we raised $60,000.  It has been an incredible experience and so many people have become a part of this ambulance.  From the inner-city elementary school in Pittsburgh that held a coin campaign, raising $1,800 for the fund, to the students from Mount de Sales Academy and Mount. St. Joe's donating monies from their school's dress-down days, to Carroll Kohler donating the BMW after spending four years meticulously restoring the car. . . .  All for the purpose of purchasing an ambulance in a community a world away! This week will be exciting for us as well, as we will order the ambulance for St. Elizabeth's."