Anti-gambling crusader wins big in sweepstakes

A longtime anti-gambling crusader took home a sizable jackpot Wednesday in a sweepstakes put on by a gambling cafe in her hometown of Villa Park, IL.

Kathy Gilroy won the $25,000 sweepstakes after entering for free at Stella’s Cafe, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The DuPage County woman may be most known for shutting down a Queen of Hearts game in August 2016 conducted by the VFW in Morris.

The fundraising raffle had reached a jackpot of $1.6 million when Gilroy alerted local authorities that the raffle did not have a legitimate license. Just hours before the drawing was set to take place, the raffle was suspended.

“Kathy Killjoy was the least of what they called me,” Gilroy said in a November BND report on raffle licensing.

Morris VFW Commander Jerry Zeborowski found some hypocrisy in the fact that she entered the sweepstakes at all, according to the Chicago Tribune report.

Gilroy told the Chicago Tribune that she will enter sweepstakes and even play video poker machines if she is given a free gaming card — for her, it’s about not spending her own money. She has reportedly won prizes including electronics and trips to the Bahamas and California in the past.

The Villa Park woman is an insurance agent who started her crusade against gambling in 1995 because, she said, she saw how it ruins lives firsthand.

Since then, she has called out dozens of gambling events that she says were not following local and state laws.

This story was originally published December 29, 2017 at 7:40 AM with the headline "Anti-gambling crusader wins big in sweepstakes."