What would be top of your list when winning the lottery? Probably a house and a holiday. Maybe even a new car. But have you considered using your new wealth to help others? It never ceases to amaze us how many news stories come up about lottery winners who give something back. If it isn’t families setting up anti-poverty charities, it’s winners renovating entire streets. But one story about a 2013 winner might just trump all the other stories combined. One Canadian lottery winner set up a unique kind of charity after winning $1,000 (£605) per week for life.
Canadian Lottery Winner Pays it Forward
Canadian Lottery Winner’s Volunteering Charity
Two months after the big win, the Canadian lottery winner Rachel Lapierre left her nursing job to launch Le Book Humanitaire. The concept is simple: the charity organisation uses social media to connect people asking for people with those able to give it. It’s a kind of “Pay it Forward” system of volunteering assistance to those in need. Users may donate goods, services or simply time for those who need it. Typical donations include clothing, but if somebody needs a lift to a hospital for treatment, that may request that too. Rachel Lapierre said that only winning the lottery allowed her to fulfill her life’s dream.
The game on which the Canadian lottery winner won that enormous lifelong prize is the Gagnant à Vie, translated as Winner for Life. The $1,000 CAD prize is the jackpot, but they may also choose a lump sum of $675,000 (£457,400). However, that is not the only prize; there are many more besides. Flat cash prizes range from $4 (£2.70) up to $10,000 CAD (around £6,775). It’s unusual in that the player does not choose numbers. Instead, he or she selects images to place into the ticket – a bit like the Emoji Lottery and scratches off panes to choose their prize.