'Tis the season ...

Earlier today I composed and then decided not to post a couple of snarky things I had seen online about incredibly wealthy people being ... well, less than inspiring. I thought putting it on the blog would just be spreading the uninspiring example and rousing more negativity. So when I ran across this article, I thought the story needed to be shared.

A winner will donate $40M of his massive jackpot to Canada after keeping his fortune a secret for months. The big lottery winner, Calgary’s own Tom Crist and a born Canadian, revealed his plans this week after coming forward to claim his prize. He has claimed that he doesn’t need the money, and that charities in Canada can use it much better than the lucky man ever could.
The winner donating $40M of his sudden earnings to charity found out the incredible news back in May while he was golfing. Crist was with a couple of friends when he learned he had been the big winner of the massive jackpot, which has been called the very biggest in the history of Calgary. The man, who is now retired, had initially signed up for a lottery subscription while in Canada that alerts them whenever the fortunate winner has the correct combination of numbers via email.
"As soon as I hung up from my cellphone call from Western Canada Lottery I never thought about it. We finished our lunch, we went out golfing. I’ve kept it a secret, even my kids didn’t know until today," Crist said on Monday.
Soon after discovering he’d claimed the $40M lottery, Crist opted to put all of that money into a new family trust that he would then be able to donate to various charities that meant a lot to him on a personal level. One of these receiving donations would be the Canadian Cancer Society and the Baker Cancer Center in local Calgary.
Crist lost his wife to cancer only two years prior to winning the lottery, and said that he wanted to keep his fortune a well-kept secret until he knew for sure where he wanted it to go.
"She was fairly young and stuff. She beat it for six years before it finally caught up to her," Crist said.
"I’ve been fortunate enough, through my career, 44 years with a company. I did very well for myself," Crist told CBC News. "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."