Bainbridge resident Lillie Carter is the proud recipient of a $1,000 check, courtesy of the Theresa D. Young Foundation and the Decatur County Senior Center.

Carter had her name pulled from a raffle of 4,000 names Monday for the senior center’s fall fundraiser, where a group of senior women sold tickets around Bainbridge to help fund their upcoming programs.

The women sold tickets in front of Harvey’s, Roses and the fair grounds. One ticket was a dollar, or buyers could pay $5 for six tickets. If someone purchased a ticket, they were guaranteed a chance to have their name drawn for the $1,000 prize.

A total of $3,402 was raised, $1,000 going to Carter and the other $2,402 going toward the senior center.

“I would like to really give a special thanks to Theresa Young and the foundation,” senior Louticia McKelvin said. “They opened their hearts and worked with us to assist us. We really appreciate it.”

First on their list of programs to be funded is a Christmas party on Dec. 12. There will be bingo and door prizes for everybody in attendance.

“A lot of people there don’t have anybody, so this will be the biggest part of their Christmas,” Decatur County Senior Center Director Belinda Green said. “Some of them are alone, some of them have family that lives far away.”

The senior center women who helped administer the fundraiser with the Teresa D. Young Foundation named their operation Young at Heart.

“We wanted a program name for our Christmas program and stuff like that,” Teresa Chason, Teresa D. Young Foundation founder and Board of Director, said. “We gave them an application and they pretty much all came up with the name Young at Heart. They can do the Young at Hear summer program, or the Young at Heart Christmas program.”

Chason founded the Teresa Diane Young Foundation in 2011. She formerly worked an afterschool program at the Bainbridge-Decatur County YMCA and taught parenting classes. Later, she was employed with Bainbridge Housing authority as the Resident Service Coordinator.

The foundation’s mission is to advocate for children and families, offer parent support systems, assist the underprivileged and sponsor or co-sponsor charitable events in the community.

The foundation hopes to continue working with the senior center and coming up with new activities for the seniors.