For many people, sadly, 'tis the season of gimme. But for one very lucky Calgary man, this Christmas is undeniably about giving. According to an article in Yahoo, Tom Crist's $40 million LottoMax jackpot win—every nickel and dime of it—will be distributed to various charities in honour of his late wife, who died of cancer last year.
Though Crist won the lottery in early May, he was a subscription member and hadn't realized the extent of his winnings until he was contacted while vacationing in California.
Not only does the $40 million pot mean Crist is Calgary's biggest winner to date, it also makes him the Lotto's most charitable.
At the top of Crist's gift list is, obviously, the Canadian Cancer Society and Calgary's own Tom Baker Cancer Centre.
"I’ve been fortunate enough, through my career, 44 years with a company," said Crist. "I did very well for myself. I’ve done enough that I can look after myself, for my kids, so they can get looked after into the future. I don’t really need that money."
Wow. How many of us can honestly say that? How many of us could resist hoarding at least a few mil to ourselves?
What a truly grand gesture, in the same spirit as this family. Someone out there knows the meaning of Christmas, Charlie Brown. And in Tom Crist's vocabulary at least, the word COMMERCIAL doesn't even feature.
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