The much-anticipated winner of the Health Sciences North (HSN) foundations 50/50 lottery was announced Friday afternoon. The record high winnings of $1.5 million went to Haley Belecque and her family from Redbridge, Ontario, a small community just northeast of North Bay.
The young family of Mom Haley, Dad Michel and their children Rowan and Briar arrived at HSN mid-afternoon Friday after driving in through fog for close to 150 kilometres from Redbridge, although some members of their extended family thought they were joking about the jackpot win. Haley Belecque said she and her husband Michel Belecque have been steady ticket buyers for months.
"Oh yes, we've been buying I think for over a year now. Oh, in both North Bay and Sudbury because we've been coming to both hospitals pretty regularly over the last couple of years," said Haley. She said both her father and her sister were sick and required hospital care.
"But the hospitals have just been absolutely astounding. So it's important to recognize I think the doctors, the nurses, I mean, OTs PTs, everyone here and in North Bay has just been incredible," said Haley, who added she was so grateful for the win.
The young couple both work in North Bay.
Haley is an optician at Eye Associates; Michel works at Miller Waste. Neither has ever won such a big jackpot.
"Oh no we haven't," said Michel, quickly adding he was "dumbfounded". "We're not generally such lucky people," said Haley. She and her husband couldn't stop smiling.
Michel said he and Haley had not yet discussed what to do with their winnings.
"And hopefully we'll do some good things with the money and we hope to make an impact," said Haley
Daughter Briar quipped at one point she might like to buy a new cat. The family already has one cat and two dogs.
Friday's win has inspired them to buy tickets again.
"Oh, yeah! I mean, I've seen lightning strike twice here. So, sure!" said Haley, referring to the fact that some HSN draw winners have won more than once.
The ride home could be more exciting for the family compared to the ride to Sudbury.
"Um, we told our parents and actually no one believes us," Haley laughted. "On the drive up, I told my inlaws and they were like, Okay, well, if you are telling the truth, congratulations. I'll wait for the email."
The win announced Friday is the largest ever jackpot in the two-and-a-half year history of the fundraiser which is based on hospital supporters buying draw tickets and then, when the month-end draw is held, the proceeds of ticket sales are split on a 50-50 basis.
Anthony Keating, the President & Chief Development Officer of the HSN Foundations & Volunteer Groups, was more than pleased to meet the winning family in person when they arrived at the hospital Friday afternoon. He said he was not surprised to learn the winner was from out of town, because HSN is actually a regional hospital.
"It says a lot about how important people see Health Sciences North in their community," Keating said.
"You know that we're a regional hospital. So we support people throughout Northeastern Ontario. Thirty per cent of our patients actually come from outside of Sudbury and, and so that it says a lot about, you know, the tremendous amount of support that people every month, ... people play this lottery every single month," he added.
"To me, it demonstrates that people recognize the important role that philanthropy plays in in our community, and the important role that Health Sciences North plays in our community. So when you support the lottery, we're all winners. And that's something I think that's really important to share with our community that you know, we made somebody a millionaire over today. But what's what's equally as important as giving that prize away is the support that we can give back to our hospital, that we can give back to the community," Keating said.
He added that many Ontario residents believe the provincial government provides all the funding for hospital capital costs and new equipment, which is not the case.
"And so this money is used to purchase specialized medical equipment, and medical equipment is something that the government doesn't fully fund. It's used to support our Health Sciences North Research Institute. So this last year, we've been able to fund nine researchers, particularly in cancer research, that money is used to support that research that they're doing to, to help support people in northeastern Ontario. And then another big part of the money is used to reserve for capital future capital costs. So we all know that Health Sciences North was built too small. We have a plan for the future. And some of this money from the 5050 is being is being put aside to make sure that we have the money that we need for our future hospital as well," Keating said.
Tickets are already on sale for the next HSN 50/50 Lottery Draw which takes place in the New Year. The HSN lottery website said the grand prize deadline is January 31, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. There are also several early bird and bonus draws that will take place between now and then. Since it began the lottery has raised over $14.5 million dollars to support the highest-priority needs of HSN through the work of the local foundations; the HSN Foundation, the NEO Kids Foundation, and the Northern Cancer Foundation – and HSN Volunteer Association.
