sell tickets for my fish fryer.”
She added, “I would not be where I am if it wasn’t
for my family and friends, if I hadn’t had their help and
support. We walked into fundraising and we’ve never
done anything like this before. I called some of the previous Bachelors and asked them for advice. My Grandma
(Judy White of Texas Butane) said, ‘Here’s a fish fryer.
See what you can do with it.’ I went to Bennett’s Office
Supply and bought a roll of tickets and started raffling it
off.”
Taylar found that whenever she grew tired of the rejection or the effort, going to the Senior Center would rejuvenate her.
“I’d be up at the Senior Center almost every day and
I had fun doing it,” she said. “I was told, ‘No,’ a lot and
I’d get stressed, but then my family and friends would say,
‘Taylar, you’ve got this.’ Some people bought $500 worth
of tickets, but I just kept pushing and kept pushing. One
of the ladies at Jerry’s Chevrolet won it. She bought $20
worth of tickets and won it. It was the luck of the draw.
Anyone can win a raffle.”
The experience was exhilarating and at the same time
exhausting.
“The hardest part was when I went to the Senior Center
and Shelly (Mowery) said, ‘You know the gentleman who
hugged you when you left last night? Well, he died last
night.’ That was so hard. But being there and hearing
some of the stories of some of the things that the seniors
were going through hurt too. But, all in all, they made me
happy. It really made me want to work even harder for
them. I wanted to do this for them. I wanted to make it all
easier for them.”
Ultimately, Taylar won and PCCA won the title of
Charity of the Year.
How much will the money Taylar raised help the
Senior Center?
“It helps in so many ways because we rely on donations and grants,” Mowery said. “We’re not getting near
the money that we used to. Taylar knocked it out of the
ballpark. She comes from two great families on both
sides.”
In terms of what Taylar has done for the morale of the
people that are served at the Senior Center, it’s priceless,
because to them Taylar’s victory is also their victory. She
is, after all, their Bachelorette.
Shelly Mowery, Taylar White,
Drew Springer, Marsha Brown