What would you do if you won $1,000 a week for the rest of your life?
Rachel Lapierre, 55, bought a ticket for the lottery “Win for Life” and took home the grand prize—$1,000 per week for the rest of her life, according to BBC.
However, instead of spending it on herself, she used it to help others.
“Money is money,” she told the BBC News in a video interview. “When you’re born you don’t have anything, and when you go, you go with nothing but your memories. You go with what you did here in life.”
Lapierre lives in St. Jerome—a town near Montreal, Canada. After joining a modeling school, she won Miss Quebec, and lived among the riches and glamour, according to Mirror.
She learned many things and realized how much she loved helping others, and making others happy.
Through the publicity, she started her own modeling school, which aimed to teach young women to build a career in the modeling industry. Later on, she closed the school in order to focus on her own children.
But that didn’t stop her from helping others.
She trained as a nurse and worked in emergency departments in Quebec, and was in contact with humanitarian organizations throughout the world.
She pursued a life of volunteering and traveled to India, Haiti, and Senegal with humanitarian organizations in order to help others in need.
Through her volunteering, she was motivated to create her own nonprofit organization to offer help to those in her own community.
Posted by le book humanitaire on Monday, 28 May 2018
After Winning the Lottery
Two months after she won the lottery, Lapierre quit her job as a nurse to focus her attention on developing the nonprofit organization that she created—Le Book Humanitaire. It uses social media to connect to those who are in need.
The money from the lottery was enough to be able to cover the rent for the office, as well as other administrative costs.
Her charity promotes good deeds—from chatting with a person who feels lonely to giving a child a new bicycle to ride.
Aujourd'hui nous avons aidé un petit village au dépotoir de Calcutta Jacques et Hélène avec leurs amis ont offert des…
Posted by le book humanitaire on Thursday, 17 January 2019
After she founded her charity, thousands of volunteers got involved with the project, helping out the community along with the full-time staff on Lapierre’s team.
“Let’s say that you have clothes to give away. We will put you in contact with a family that needs those clothes and will allow you to go give them yourself,” Lapierre said, regarding her charity. “It’s not only about material things. You might end up driving a cancer patient to a doctor’s appointment.”
BON REPOS À TOUTE L'ÉQUIPE BON RETABLISSEMENT À MARIE PAULE de retour le 16 juillet mais répondrons aux urgences
Posted by le book humanitaire on Saturday, 30 June 2018
On the nonprofit charity’s Facebook page, community members are able to ask for help as well as offer their help to someone who might need it.
“It’s not only about material things. You might end up driving a cancer patient to a doctor’s appointment,” said Lapierre.
According to the charity’s website, its purpose is to help others and contribute to a better world.
Merci à tout ceux qui ont participé aux cliniques de rues Des moments inoubliables resteront gravés dans nos mémoires à jamais .
Posted by le book humanitaire on Tuesday, 22 January 2019
Many have used the service on Facebook, and others used it to donate funds in order to keep the charity going.
More than 20,000 people on Facebook follow this page.
“I think happiness comes from the heart. It’s nice to have a new home or car,” she said. “It can be really fun, but you don’t need that to be happy.”
