Most people would be thrilled to win the lottery. For example, the odds of winning the Powerball are 1 in 292.2 million.
The odds of getting hit by lightning are much higher, at 1 in 1.2 million. So, all we can do is hope that the lucky person who wins the money will also give back to the community. One woman was not only kind, but she was also in the news for something she did years ago.
Juliette Lamour won the lottery after giving her money to charity when she was 5 years old. This is a great example of how karma works.
CBS News says that Juliette Lamour, a teen from Ontario, is the youngest person in Canada to win such a big prize, which is worth about $35 million USD.
Would you believe she had never bought a ticket before? On the weekend of her birthday, her parents and sister were busy and couldn’t take her to see her grandfather. So she went by herself. She called him and asked what kind of ice cream he wanted her to bring him. Instead of giving her something sweet, her grandfather gave her advice that changed her life.
He said to me: ‘You just turned 18, go buy a lotto ticket, test your luck,’
Lamour said at a media event.
So, I did.
So, she went to Circle K and bought a Lotto 6/49 ticket. She went to work the next day at Rexall, a Canadian pharmacy chain like nothing had happened. After a 15-minute break, there was a commotion at her job because someone from their town, Sault Ste. Marie had won the jackpot.
She exclaimed that she had a ticket. One of her coworkers scanned it with his phone, and when he found out that Lamour was the winner, everyone got very excited.
He was screaming. In fact, everyone was screaming that I had won $48 million,
she said.
At first, I didn’t understand what was going on. How many zeroes is that? I couldn’t take in the news. We made quite a scene in the store that day.
She has been in the news before, so this wouldn’t be the first time. In 2010, she was in the news because she gave a $61 piggy bank that she and her sister shared to help Haiti after the earthquake. She did this at a hockey game.
She answered the phone. I’m like, ‘I won the lottery!’
Lamour exclaimed.
She’s like, ‘What?” I’m like, ‘I won the lottery.’ She’s like, ‘No, you didn’t!’
She talked about the emotional conversation she had with her mom on the “Inside the Village” podcast.
I called my mom crying and telling her I had won the lottery, with my coworkers in the back yelling ‘Come and get her!’
she said.
I signed it and gave it to my mom to take home. Everyone was telling me I should leave, but she told me, ‘You’re staying until 5:00 p.m. and finishing your shift!’
She was afraid of losing the lucky ticket, so her mom put it in an envelope and a Ziploc bag. Her dad even bought a safe to keep it in until the next day, when they called the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) to make sure she had the winning ticket.
Her dad is a financial planner, so she has a plan for how to spend the money safely. And most of it will go to charity, which fits with her history of being a good person. Even though she has a lot of money, she still wants to go to medical school and practice medicine.
My goals are still the same. I want to stay in school. If I had to quit school, I wouldn’t want this,
she said.
