FORT FRANCES—Arlene Mainville, a single mother of four from Couchiching, was ecstatic after receiving a cheque for $675,000 after winning the top prize in the “Cash for Life” scratch game early last week.
Mainville opted to take the lump sum up front (previously reported to be $975,000) instead of $1,000 a week for life.
She noted when she first called to report the win, she was told the lump sum would be $975,000.
“There was no reason why we didn’t believe otherwise, even though I would go online and see that people were getting $675,000,” Mainville noted Thursday from Toronto, where she had to go to collect her prize.
“It wasn’t until we actually got out here that I found out the right amount,” she added, though stressing she’s thrilled with the cash either way.
After receiving the cheque from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp.’s prize centre, Mainville was on her way to the bank.
“The guy is expecting me,” she giggled into a cell phone. “I feel so important—they’re keeping the bank open for me.”
Mainville added she can’t believe this is really happening to her.
“It’s nutty—it’s just really nutty. I never ever would have dreamed to have this much money,” she exclaimed, noting it’s “crazy” how it all happened.
“I was driving my son to work . . . and I said grab my scratch ticket—I want to go get another one,” she recalled. “He said ‘Why?’ and I said ‘Just because I have a feeling, okay?’”
She purchased the ticket at the CC Complex on Couchiching.
Mainville said she chose the lump sum over the weekly cheques in order to get her and her children out of debt.
“I think this way I can give my kids some,” she remarked, noting her one son is in university in Winnipeg.
“We just co-signed his student loan again to give him more money. At least this way, we can pay it off,” she reasoned.
Mainville added she plans to build a house and invest the rest.
“I just want to know what it’s like to build a house and not have a debt attached to it,” she remarked, noting she’s meeting with an investment specialist this week.
“I don’t know if I’m going to build right away or invest it and let it grow to a million,” Mainville indicated. “People could spend money like crazy and I don’t want to make that mistake. . . .
“I think I should be cautious and put a lot of thought into this.”
And as anyone can imagine, it’s been tough for her to raise four children on her own.
“It’s been rough—it’s been really hard,” she admitted. “This past hockey season, I mean, I’ve always done okay, but I had three in hockey last year and it really kicked my finances. . . .
“It was such a struggle.”
Mainville added she knows she’s won a “ton” of money and hopes to make it last for a long time.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
