A Toronto woman is offering to make an aspiring restaurateur's dream come true, after family circumstances forced her to give up her precious business.

Ruthie Cummings saved up for ten years to buy the space and equipment to open her restaurant, Das Gasthaus, located on a stretch of Toronto's Danforth Avenue.

Now, after nearly three years of serving up German cuisine, bonding with staff, and charming customers, Cummings is leaving the business to take care of her aging parents.

But instead of selling her beloved eatery, she's decided to raffle it off.

Starting on Monday, Cummings is selling raffle tickets online for $150.

Contest participants can also mail in certified cheques or money orders to pay for their ticket, or they can enter by submitting an original, handwritten essay of at least 500 words, answering the question “How can the quality of care for seniors be improved in Canada?”

Cummings says she’ll accept a maximum of 4,000 entries from wannabe restaurant owners, hopeful investors, aspiring chefs, or anybody else who wants to offer their support.

Then, on Dec. 1, Cummings will hold the draw for the grand prize. She says the winning ticket holder will be able to take over the restaurant by Dec. 2.

"It is a fully functioning restaurant and for $150 they can have it all," she told CTV's Canada AM on Monday. "I really wanted to make this an opportunity for someone. I decided to do it this way because it makes it accessible for everybody, instead of just a small few."

Cummings says part of the ticket proceeds will go into making sure the restaurant and all its equipment are in tip-top shape, and another chunk of the money will pay off any outstanding debts, so that the new owner will inherit the business hassle-free.

That way, Cummings said, the new owner is free to shape the restaurant however they like, whether that means keeping the space as is, or transforming it completely.

"I would love to see somebody with the same passion that I had walk in here and take it over and create what they want to do and make it their dream," Cummings said.

Born in Canada, Cummings grew up in a German household, and said her love of the culture and food industry inspired her to buy her own restaurant.

After almost three years in the business, she highly recommends the experience.

"I love the interaction with people, love the foodie-ness of this industry, and the family feel that you get within a restaurant with just the employees and the regulars. It's amazing," Cummings says in a video on her website.

Given her love for her eatery, Cummings says giving up Das Gasthaus is bitter-sweet.

"I opened this restaurant two-and-a-half ago with the hope that this would be my 'forever restaurant,' " she says on her website. "I'm selling the restaurant not because I want to but because I have to."

Cummings says her parents, both in their 80s, are "not doing well." Once the restaurant is sold, she plans to move in with them so they won't have to live in a care home.

And while she puts her dream "on the backburner," she said she hopes she'll be able to help spark a career for somebody else.