ROCHELLE – The first winner of the From the Heart Rochelle Rotary Cash Calendar was chosen and received her check Friday afternoon.
Rosemary VanKirk of Rochelle was randomly chosen as the winner on Jan. 1. Since the first of the year is a holiday, the winning amount was for $1,000, compared to just a usual day of $25.
VanKirk said that she was very surprised and happy when she found out that she had won.

“When I heard that I was the winner, I couldn’t believe it. I have never won that much money in my life before,” expressed VanKirk.
In the last few months VanKirk has had some expenses come up, so the check could not have come at a better time.
The next big winner to be drawn will be the $250 winner on From the Heart day (Feb. 1) as well as another $250 prize for Valentine’s Day. The rest of the chosen winners for the month of January can be viewed either in the Rochelle News-Leader, on the From the Heart Facebook page, http://fromtheheartrochelle.org/ or the Rochelle Rotary website.