Many have used their lottery millions to better the lives of others, but for those who win the smaller jackpots, are they so eager to share? For a single mother in the US state of Massachusetts, she used her small lottery win to change the life of a homeless man forever.
Sofia Andrade used her two dollars, the last of her money until payday, in order to purchase a lottery scratch card.
She instantly won $200 and as she left the store in jubilation, her eyes fell upon a homeless man shivering under the harsh conditions of the Massachusetts winter chill. Her heart reached out to this poor man, Glenn Williams, so Sofia invited him in her car, taking him for coffee and a meal. Upon discovering that the local homeless shelters were all full, she spent her $200 lottery winnings on ensuring that Glenn would be comfortable, so she placed him in a hotel for the night. "I knew that the money never really belonged to me," said Andrade of her lottery winnings. "This money was meant to help him."
The story only gets better from here.
After talking about her charitable event on social media, many other good Samaritans came to Glenn's aid. He was given a free haircut, valentine's day cards and extra-comfy clothing to endure the harsh colds. But it didn't end there. Andrea even took the extra step and set up a crowd-funding initiative for Glenn. It was her aim to raise over $5000 for Glenn (who has been homeless for three years) but to date, she has raised close to $17 000, certainly a life-changing amount.
Here's what Glenn had to say: "There's a lot of good people in this world. I'm overwhelmed with all the help, and I just want to thank everybody."
