New Westminster, BC, March 18, 2024 — As spring grows nearer, experience the charm of giving this season! Treat yourself to the chance to win big while supporting the health and wellbeing of your community. Don’t miss the enchanting opportunity of the March edition of Royal Columbian Hospital Foundation’s 50/50 lottery.
Why participate in the RCH Foundation lottery?
A huge jackpot: The last winner found a pot of gold totaling $74,702.50! Imagine what you could do with that kind of life-changing money! Yours or your child’s full tuition? A brand-new car? A dream vacation this summer?
Community spirit: RCHF’s 50/50 Lottery brings people together, fostering a sense of community and shared purpose. Through eleven magical lotteries, they’ve proudly awarded nearly $700,000 in prize money.
Support an amazing cause: Remember, each ticket isn’t just a raffle entry. With every ticket purchase, you are not only increasing your chances of winning but also directly supporting a cause close to our hearts. The other half of the jackpot goes toward helping Royal Columbian Hospital provide exceptional critical care to some of the most vulnerable individuals in the province.
So, in the end, everyone experiences the magic of winning!
Buy Your Tickets
Act fast, tickets are on sale now! Just select the number of tickets you’d like to purchase. Ticket packages available are:
- 10 for $10
- 75 for $25
- 350 for $50
- 700 for $80 (Best value: limited quantity available!)
The more tickets you buy, the greater your chances of winning! Don’t wait, you only have until Wednesday, March 27, 2024 at 11:59:59pm to purchase your tickets.
Your Impact
Miranda Tymoschuk is acutely familiar with the healthcare system. The 21-year-old Maple Ridge resident has undergone a dozen surgeries so far after being born with a rare condition called posteromedial tibia bowing. She has required numerous procedures to lengthen and straighten her left leg. But in recent years, she has been focused as much on her mental health as her physical health after struggles with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I just had no emotions left in me,” Miranda recalls about the start of her mental illness at age 16. “It’s hard to explain how I felt, but I also started having nightmares, flashbacks and so much fear.”
Miranda attributes these to an accumulation of stresses, and she says episodes increasingly affected her.
“I was barely sleeping,” she describes. “I would be in class and suddenly remember something that had happened. I would just fill with so much fear to the point that my body would shut off.”
When she started to think about harming herself, Miranda approached a teacher. From there, she was put in touch with the school’s counsellor. Miranda was terrified of taking that first step.
“I remember the counsellor’s office was right across from the career counsellor,” she recalls. “Every time I would go in to see the career counsellor, I would think about going in to talk to her (counsellor). But I didn’t want anyone to see me. I didn’t want to say that I had some kind of problem, so I never did until the teacher introduced me.”
That fear of taking the first step is common, according to Royal Columbian Hospital psychiatrist Dr. Nicolas Ramperti.
“In particular in adolescents,” he says. “It’s an age where people are much more competitive regarding how they appear in front of others. That’s why people tend to minimize, or not to comment to others, not tell them they need help and they are suffering.”
After a search for mental health services that Miranda says was occasionally frustrating, she became a patient of Dr. Ramperti a few years ago. She visits his office at Royal Columbian Hospital as needed and appreciates the rapport they have built.
“I think I have come to a place where now I have accepted that this is my reality,” she says. “That acceptance is a huge part of moving forward and getting better.”
Encouraging mental health recovery is a major goal of the new Mental Health and Substance Use Wellness Centre, built in 2020.
Part of a larger $1.3 billion multi-year, multi-phase redevelopment of the hospital, the new 75-bed mental health facility provides patients and staff with more space and is designed to facilitate patient recovery.
Dr. Ramperti says it will be welcoming and family-friendly.
“We are taking into account this centre is for the community,” he says. “It’s for all ages.”
Miranda too is excited about the new centre.
“There are so many people that are in the place that I was in,” she says. “Not wanting to say anything, not wanting to get help or not knowing how to get help. I’m sharing my experience in order to tell people that what you are going through is real, and there are things you can do to get better. You just have to speak out and get that help. A newer building that’s focused on mental health will be good.”
Shine a light on mental health by supporting RCH today!
Don’t Miss Your Chance to Win Big
Buy your tickets now to get ready for the lucky day! And tell your friends – the more participants they have, the bigger the jackpot, and the more joy the Foundation can spread at Royal Columbian Hospital.
Your participation brings warmth to many hearts, helping RCH continue their mission of making a difference in the lives of those they serve.
Join the 50/50 Lottery today and be a part of something magical.
Ticket Sales Close: Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Draw Date: Thursday, March 28, 2024
Tickets available to British Columbia residents over 19 years of age
