Congratulations to January’s Grand Prize winner, Diane Graham who won $44,455!

Third time’s the charm! This common expression certainly applies to this month’s winner, Diane Graham. She won $44,455 on only her third time playing the 50/50 Hospital Lottery for Guelph General Hospital. “I saw the ad on GuelphToday.com online and then read about several local people winning. I never thought it would be me. I’m a person who never wins.”

Well, we are happy for Diane that her luck has turned. She has even bought tickets again for this month’s draw, continuing with the $40 for 200 tickets bundle, and plans to continue every month. “I had both of my children at Guelph General and my husband, Gary, and I have accessed care in the past. I want high-quality care to be available locally. Our daughter, Whitney Brown, also works there in professional practice.”

When Gary told her that Lottery Manager, Sarah Ferguson had left a message, she realized it was the last day of the month, Diane says she had a premonition, “When I called back I was already excited but waited until I had it confirmed before I allowed myself to be thrilled.” The first thing she did was share the news with Gary and text her son, Jonathan, and her daughter, Whitney. Neither child even knew she had been playing and were both happily surprised.

Diane and Gary have spent many hours planning trips for after they both were retired. They had a lengthy Scandinavian trip planned for June 2020 that was cancelled due to the emergence of COVID-19. They hope to use their winnings for that trip, as well as several others now. “We are excited to fulfill our travel dreams. We are also so happy to support the hospital!”

Here at The Foundation, we are happy too. Proceeds from several 50/50 Lotteries have been earmarked for the new MRI scanner and we are three quarters of the way to the $2.25 million goal. With proceeds from February and March lotteries and the proceeds from our upcoming virtual gala, Black Tie Bingo (www.blacktiebingo.com; tickets on sale until February 13^th), we hope to achieve our goal by the end of March. Thank you to all of our faithful 50/50 players for helping to fund our new MRI.

Congratulations, Diane and Gary!