SACO, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Love it, or hate it, Facebook can be a useful tool. Friends made near and far by the Grahamtastic Connection, a nonprofit organization that provides computers and internet access to kids battling serious illnesses, helped produce just enough likes to win a brand new car in an online contest.
"Please, we need your vote. It just takes a second. Click," said Leslie Morissette, the driving force behind Grahamtastic Connection, as she explained how she appealed to anyone and everyone to generate support in Toyota's 100 Cars for Good contest.
Over 4,200 organizations applied to take part in the contest, with the final 500 nonprofits put into groups of five. Each day for 100 days, five groups battled it out, with the winner being the one that was able to get the most likes by the end of the day.
Morissette says she watched as the voting remained close well into the night, and wasn't 100% certain they'd won until she saw the results the next day. She says winning a 2013 Toyota Highlander, which she will use to deliver computers to kids in hospitals throughout the region, is a dream come true.
"It feels really great, and we thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for doing that for us," she said.
"Being able to support kids who are in the hospital is an honor for us and a privilege, and we feel very, very strongly that we want kids to be connected to their classrooms, their family, and their friends and we have the vehicle to do it, so we are very, very happy to do it."
She says to date they have given out 680 computers to kids in forty different hospitals, from Maine to California and everywhere in between, and are looking for donations of either old laptops, tablets, or cash to help even more kids stay connected.
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