Stasia Szpunar attributes luck - not psychic abilities - to her recent winning ways, despite predicting in writing that her ticket would be picked.

In December, Szpunar purchased a raffle ticket from Victim Assistance staff at the police station, where she has worked as a cleaner for more than 15 years. For the past three years, Fabio and Gina Cornale at Bella Cake and Pastries in Sapperton have raffled off a gingerbread house to raise money for a local for charity.

The most recent raffle featured a gingerbread police station, with proceeds going to the New Westminster Victim Assistance Association, a nonprofit society that's run out of the local police station. This year's raffle raised a record $835.

"It's quite amazing," said Cheryl Meyers, victim assistance manager. "That is going to go into our volunteer resource fund. Our volunteers provide support services to victims of crime 24/7."

The volunteers have a little fund that's used for a number of things, including equipment that may not be funded through the regular budget process.

Each year, Fabio Cornale spends hours baking and decorating the gingerbread masterpieces, which are raffled off just before Christmas.

"When I pulled the ticket from the box, the back of the ticket was facing my staff, and they said, Look at the back," he said about this year's draw. "On the back was written, The Winner."

Szpunar said she went to work at the police station a little early one day so she could buy raffle tickets before starting her shift. She bought eight tickets for $5, and jokingly wrote The Winner on the back of one of the tickets.

"When he called me, I couldn't believe it," she said. "It is so beautiful I don't even want to break it. I would love to save it for next year, but it is very big."

Szpunar has taken lots of photos of the gingerbread police station and shown them to people living back home in Poland. For now, it continues to sit on the coffee table in her living room because she can't bear to dismantle Cornale's creation.

Cornale's past masterpieces have included a gingerbread house in 2009, with proceeds going to Monarch Place (a transition house for women and children fleeing violence) and a gingerbread fire hall in 2010, with proceeds going to the New Westminster Firefighters' Charitable Society.

tmcmanus@royalcityrecord.com