LONDON, Ont. -London Health Sciences Foundation President and CEO John MacFarlane,
Children's Health Foundation , President and CEO Susan Crowley, and St. Joseph's Health Care Foundation President and CEO Michelle Campbell were on hand today in the Dream Lottery home at 2351 Meadowland Way to help award the two biggest prizes for this fall's Dream Lottery .
In the past two days, the good deeds of thousands of Ontario residents (mostly from the Southwestern Ontario region) were rewarded when their Dream Lottery tickets became prizes in the lottery's final draw. Since 1996, lottery supporters have contributed more than $27.1 million (net) through their ticket purchases towards patient care, specialized equipment purchases, as well as medical innovation, research and education at London Health Sciences Centre, Children's Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph's Health Care London.
Crowley kicked things off at 8:45 a.m. as she drew 50/50 PlusTM ticket number 156379. The ticket was purchased by Mark Allott of London, who will receive $428,812.50 which is half of the $857,625 prize pot.
When Allott received the call informing him of his win, he had just returned from a trip to Northern Ontario where he was installing a communications tower.
"I had won a 50-50 before but not this big. I'm in shock," says Allott who admitted that he didn't realize the draw was taking place today. "I called three people and they said that no one else should have won, so that made me feel very good. "
Allott had just recently moved back to London and hadn't bought tockets before. He saw an ad about the lottery and ordered his ticket on-line. And, while he hasn't had much time to think about how he would use the money, Allott says that one son's car has a cracked windshield that needs repair and that son also mentioned a student loan that could be paid off. Allott's other son wasn't awake yet to give dad any suggestions.
At 9 a.m., LHSF Board member Ron Mikula drew ticket number 049746 for the Dream Lottery's Ultimate Grand Prize. The ticket is held by Glenn Nielsen from London.
"I love it!" Nielsen exclaimed when he received his call.
Nielsen has a choice between either a furnished home in London with $100,000 cash, a furnished London condo with $400,000 cash, or $1 million all in cash.
"I'll probably take the $1 million because I just bought a condo in July," says Nielsen who confirmed that choice when he came to the home later that morning.
Amongst his plans for the cash he hopes to buy a condo in ski country and he says that he'll be buying his nephew and his nephew's wife new cars. "Theirs are ready for the scrap yard," he says.
Videos of the winners can be seen at: http://bit.ly/50-50PLUSwinner140116 andhttp://bit.ly/DREAMwinner140116.
Winning numbers for the lottery's other final draw prizes were pulled yesterday (January 13) at the office of Deloitte LLP, 255 Queens Avenue, Suite 700, London, Ontario. All winning numbers were drawn under the supervision of accountants of record from the firm Deloitte LLP.
The primary purchaser of each winning ticket will be contacted by phone and/or mail. The names of major prize winners will be published on Thursday, January 21 in the Our London newspaper. A complete list of winners will also be posted online at www.dreamitwinit.ca the same day. All lottery rules, along with details on prizes and cash alternatives are listed on the lottery website at www.dreamitwinit.ca.
More Quotes:
"It's great to award prizes to those who support hospitals in London - and the biggest winners are the patients from our region who rely on the exceptional care made possible with the help of Dream Lottery."
John MacFarlane, President and CEO, London Health Sciences Foundation
Thanks to Dream Lottery supporters, children, youth, adults and their families from Southwestern Ontario and parts of Northern Ontario continue to receive remarkably innovative care at our hospitals."
Susan Crowley, President and CEO, Children's Health Foundation
"Thank you to everyone who bought Dream Lottery and 50/50 Plus tickets: Your contributions stay in our region to support specialized services here, along with medical research and education that benefits patients everywhere."
Michelle Campbell, President and CEO, St. Joseph's Health Care Foundation
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Together, London Health Sciences Centre, Children's Hospital at London Health Sciences Centre, and St. Joseph's Health Care London receive more than 1.5 million patient visits from across Southwestern Ontario and beyond each year. In addition to caring for London-area residents, the hospitals are referral centres providing specialized services in support of the excellent care of the region's community hospitals.
Dream Lottery - lottery licence: 7592 50/50 Plus - lottery licence: 7616
For More Information about Dream Lottery or London Health Sciences Foundation:
Alexander Peterson, Manager, Public Relations
(519) 685-8527 or Alexander.Peterson@lhsc.on.ca www.lhsf.ca
For More Information about Children's Health Foundation:
Shaun McGill, Communications Director
(519) 432-8062 (ext. 125) or smcgill@childhealth.ca www.childhealth.ca
For More Information about St. Joseph's Health Care Foundation:
Laura Janecka, Communications Officer, Marketing and Communications
(519) 646-6000 (ext. 65449) or Laura.Janecka@sjhc.london.on.ca www.sjhcfoundation.org