Nova Scotia couple give away $11-million lottery windfall

November 4, 2010

ay-11-million-lottery-windfall/article1785586/

Oliver

Globe and Mail Update

Published Thursday, Nov. 04, 2010 11:38AM EDT

Last updated Thursday, Nov. 04, 2010 11:44AM EDT

Four months after cashing in an $11-million lottery ticket, and Violet

Large have nothing to show for their winnings.

Nothing material, that is. A long list of local charities are reaping the

benefits of their decision to give away the money – and media from around the

world are picking up on their story.

But the humble couple who retired to rural Nova Scotia didn't set out to make

headlines.

" We didn't do it to get recognized, " Ms. Large said in an interview Thursday

morning. " Why spend money when you already have everything you need? "

It made no difference that the winnings made it possible to buy things never

feasible on working-class salaries. They drive a five-year-old truck and a

13-year-old car, have no microwave or voicemail and live in a 19th-century home

that is paid off.

The Larges are content with what they have. So when they looked for a way to use

their money, it didn't occur to them to splurge on personal treats.

" We haven't spent even one penny on ourself, " Ms. Large said. " We're not

travellers and we're not high-class people. We live in an old house, but we're

comfortable. "

Instead they doled out some of the money to immediate family and then drew up a

list of worthwhile charities. The list quickly stretched to several pages –

ranging from animal protection to churches to health care. Ms. Large is

recovering from cancer and the hospitals that treated her got an extra chunk,

her husband said.

" We wanted to look after our community and make sure they all had some, " Mr.

Large explained. " We have a little bit left, not that much. But we had

sufficient before. We worked for 30 years and put some away each year. "

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