Baby girl from Tinian wins Lollipops promotion

A baby girl got the perfect gift for her ninth-month birthday Saturday after winning the coveted 20-inch pink Sanrio bike at the Lollipops raffle draw.

Kate K. Manglona, daughter of Janet King and Joshua Manglona of Tinian, was presented with her grand prize for her winning ticket numbers 630629 at the Lollipops store in Garapan yesterday afternoon.

“We didn’t expect to win but we’re glad we did,” said King in an interview.

King said she always goes to Lollipops to shop for her baby’s needs, from clothing to educational toys. “It’s a very good place to shop.”

According to King, Kate has also received a lot of Sanrio items as gifts from family and friends.

Kate’s win, King said, made them feel very blessed that they decided as a family to donate the Sanrio bike to a young girl from Tinian “with a very critical medical need” to be identified with the help of the Tinian Health Center.

“I think Kate will be very happy about that. It’s never too early to teach her about being generous,” said the first-time mom, adding that they will take care of the expenses to be incurred in shipping the bike to the recipient on Tinian.

Manglona, who arrived from Missouri in time for Kate’s birthday, also believes that his daughter agrees with their decision to donate the bike to an older child.

“She has a long way to go and it would be very nice to make someone happy this Christmas,” he said.

Asked for their message to the recipient of the bike, Manglona said, “Enjoy it and a very happy and merry Christmas to you from Katie and Santa.”

Lollipops president Penelope Hofschneider said the raffle promotion was their way of saying thank you to their patrons.

“It was actually a very special event because Sanrio shipped it to us completely by surprise. They shipped it to us to say thank you for doing over 10 years of business with them and suggested that we raffle it off to our customers so we can do something special for them,” she told Saipan Tribune.

Hofschneider said Lollipops and Girl Talk shoppers had the chance to earn one raffle coupon for every $10 purchase during the promo period which ran from November to early December.

“Our customers were very enthusiastic and excited to win the Sanrio bike which came at a perfect time because of the holidays, which is probably why we got a great response for the promo,” she said.

In fact, dozens of customers kept calling the store when December came to ask if they won the raffle, revealed Hofschneider.

The president said they also gave out consolation prizes to four other customers, namely Seon N. Jeon, who won a Sanrio holograph poster and holiday ornaments for a 7-year-old girl; Lyzandra Barcinas, who won a 10-pack Hot Wheels for a 6-year-old boy; Kartrina Lynn Manglona, who won an Elmo bay for a 3-year-old boy; and Liberty Manglona, who won Bay Blades for an 8-year-old boy.

“Congratulations to all the winners. Happy holidays to all of our customers and we wish them a very blessed and safe holiday season,” added Hofschneider.