KAGAWONG—Allen Clark of Kagawong will now be able to buy a pontoon boat that he has been wanting for a while after having won the May draw of Health Sciences North (HSN) 50/50 take-home jackpot of $526,698.
Asked if the purchase of an upgraded pontoon boat is first on the list of things the cash prize will go toward, Mr. Clark said on Sunday, “Well, it’s very close.”
Mr. Clark and his partner Joanne Wade were informed by a Foundations at HSN North representative of the win last Friday, May 31. Mr. Clark’s first reaction that he had won was, “What?!” followed by “Hey that is good news!”
When the couple were informed of the win, Ms. Wade said, “Are you kidding us? I can’t believe it. We are so excited, it’s like a miracle.”
Mr. Clark said, “No, I didn’t believe it at first; I thought we were receiving a fraud call. These days you can’t help but be skeptical.” To be sure, he had members of his family make some follow-up calls “to make sure it was true.”
“We’ve been buying tickets for a long while now, Jim buying them one month and then I buy them the next month,” said Ms. Wade. “This (win) is an answer to a lot of prayers.”
As for the pontoon boat, Mr. Clark explained, “I have one, but the upholstery on it was bad when I first bought it, and it just got worse. I’ve been trying to find someone to fix it, and the best way to do it, but this may alleviate all of that. I think we will upgrade the pontoon boat we have and find one that is only a couple of years old and in good shape. We really like to fish so it’s going to need to be rejigged to be able to fish from it.”
The Health Sciences North Foundation, the NEO Kids Foundation, the Northern Cancer Foundation and the HSN Volunteer Association announced that Mr. Clark had won the Sudbury jackpot.
The Sudbury Star reported that since the HSN 50/50 draw was started, $25 million has been given away to lucky winners, and in turn, the support people provide by buying tickets has allowed HSN to support new cancer research, purchase vital equipment for HSN’s healthcare experts and helps to support equitable access to health now and into the future.
“That is the great thing about all of this,” said Mr. Clark. “It is certainly helping the hospital which is very important.”
“What is also nice is that between the two of us we have received a lot of text messages and calls from people sharing in our happiness,” said Ms. Wade. “You hear so many bad things on the news these days, but there are a lot of good people and good things taking place.”
