A Mahwah mom trying to support one of her daughter’s interests just picked up a sweet ride.

Resident Debbie Messina was the winner of the 2012 Mahwah Municipal Alliance Mercedes Benz Raffle. Messina bought one $100 ticket, and won a Mercedes-Benz GLK 350, worth a cool $43,000.

“I actually bought the ticket at the last minute,” Messina said. “I buy one ticket every year because my daughter was in the DARE Program, and this year was in the [MMA's] Youth Leadership Academy and she loves it.”

After purchasing her ticket, Messina went to the Jersey Shore and “basically just thought, ‘no one ever wins these things.’”

After returning home from the trip, Messina still didn’t realize she had won the raffle. “One of my daughter’s friends called to tell us. I just heard my daughter screaming when she answered the call. We were all so excited.”

Messina’s was one of 699 tickets sold in the annual raffle, which raises money for the Mahwah Municipal Alliance’s programs, like DARE, Junior Police Academy and the Youth Leadership Academy.

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