Suzanne Gammon
Tribune
When the Split the Pot Lottery in support of Ontario hospitals announced their grand prize winner as Lyse G. of Haileybury on June 24, no one suspected a West Nipissing connection. In fact, as was revealed just last week, Lyse G. is well-known Verner native Lyse Gingras, who took home a whopping $689,698.80 in the draw.
“I still can’t believe it, it’s like a dream,” says Gingras over a month after her big win. Gingras says she moved to Haileybury in December to be close to her grandchildren, but adds “my heart is still in Sturgeon, in Verner.” When word spread that she had won, she says she received “a lot of texts and messages” from West Nipissing. “Everyone is very happy for me.”
Gingras is certainly happy, too. She says the win “will make retirement easier and more worry-free.” She has also used her winnings to help family and made several donations. In fact, giving back is why Gingras bought into the lottery in the first place. “I did it to help the hospital. I used to buy their 50-50 tickets. Then I got an email from the hospital foundation about this.” Patrons had a choice between buying one ticket or multiples, and Gingras opted for the top option of 600 tickets for $100. «Go big or go home,” she laughs.
Gingras is not the only local connection to Split the Pot. Indeed, the West Nipissing General Hospital Foundation is one of the beneficiaries of this fundraising effort, with ticket sales all over Ontario generating some very big prize pots. The last draw saw nearly $1.15 million paid out, with Gingras taking 60% of that pot as the grand prize winner, and 40% paid out in smaller and early bird prizes. Meanwhile, sixty-two participating hospitals are sharing the profits from the ticket sales, and West Nipissing General Hospital CEO Sue Lebeau says West Nipissing’s share from the last draw was about $3,500.
“We will put that money toward diagnostic imaging equipment,” she says.
Lebeau explains that capital equipment purchases are not funded by the province, so hospitals have to take the money out of their already-strained budget or do fundraising for these costly items. “In the next year or so, we have to replace our mammography machine and our lab analyzer. Those are two big items that we need,” says Lebeau. The mammography unit alone is estimated to cost between $200,000 and $300,000, she says, adding that such equipment has a life span of about ten years. “That’s why the activities of the Foundation are so important,” she stresses, especially for smaller hospitals on a small budget.