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Cash, Cars & Condos

Posted by Sookie / October 8, 2006

bluemountaincondos468.jpgUsually I pay little attention to flyers in my mailbox but yesterday, when I saw one for the Princess Margaret Hospital's Cash, Cars and Condos lottery, I had to take notice. It's a fantastic contest where 1 in 8 win. Tickets are a steep $100, but with those odds entrants are more than likely to get their money's worth. There are 4 prizes of a million dollars and plenty more cash prizes. If those don't come my way my next choice is a winner's package including a Blue Mountain Resort Condo, a Mercedes-Benz GL450 and $20,000. Even if I don't make the 1 in 8, I realized playing the contest makes for a good Thanksgiving tradition - my way of giving thanks can be to give back to the city.

Get tickets by calling 1-866-631-1234.

Princess Margaret Hospital has achieved a reputation worldwide as a leader in the fight against cancer. Two weeks ago a close friend of mine in his early thirties learned he has Leukemia, a kind of cancer. He was immediately checked into PMH for treatment, and says everything is done to make patients feel as comfortable as possible. It's reassuring to hear this and know that we in Toronto have access to this kind of facility. I have no doubt with their caring and world class treatment his health will be back on track in no time. Another big reason I have to give thanks this holiday weekend.

(image: KD Clair)

Discussion

6 Comments

Chris / October 9, 2006 at 06:36 pm
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Entrants are more than likely NOT to get their money's worth - otherwise the lottery wouldn't raise any money for the hospital... (at least in terms of prizes - this changes if you're assigning some value to the fact that in the end funds do flow to the hospital)
sookie / October 10, 2006 at 08:49 am
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having worked in the auto-industry i can safety say that most if not all of the cars would be donated, perhaps the other prizes too.
Hamish Grant / October 10, 2006 at 09:14 am
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These 'lotteries' often cost the hospitals a great deal - they sign on with a promotions company that runs the lottery and the company ends up taking a very large percentage of the revenue. Because there are a limited number of tickets it's a set-fee kind of thing. I'd love to see the balance sheet from one of these lotteries to see exactly how much the hospital ends up getting.
Hamish Grant / October 10, 2006 at 09:26 am
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Ah, I found it. The Princess Margaret hospital's balance sheet for 2006 is available online (I googled it)...

Revenue from Lotteries: 60,575,000
Expenses from Lotteries: 24,140,000
Marketing for Lotteries: 17,854,000
Profit from Lotteries: 18,581,000

So, the hospital actually keeps less than a third of the money it raises through the lotteries it runs each year. $18.5 Million isn't anything to scoff at but still...
sookie / October 12, 2006 at 01:00 pm
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Thanks for the stats Hamish.
john / October 24, 2006 at 02:39 pm
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of course there are costs involved - duh - the commercials do not get made for free, nor does the media give free air time - I think the people running the lottery understand this. The important thing is that they make the amount that they do - for the hospital.

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