He's taking the money.
Glenn Nielsen of London had his pick of a dream home, a luxury condo, or $1-million after his name was drawn as the grand prize winner in the Dream Home Lottery on Thursday.
When contacted by lottery officials by phone, Nielsen initially said he wouldn't be able to come to the dream home right away because he was waiting on a delivery. Once told that he was the grand prize winner Nielsen replied "I think I can make arrangements."
Selecting which prize option he wanted took Nielsen mere seconds.
"I already have the place that I want, a condo I moved into in July," says Nielsen. "There are a lot of things that I want to do, expecially for my family, and this money gives me the opportunity to do that. It's wonderful. It's what dreams are about, right?"
Nielsen already has a few ideas on what to spent the $1-million on.
"Get new vehicles for my nephew and his wife. They need them really bad. That's the first thing. After that, get a condo up in Collingwood to go skiing. The rest I'll set aside and decide what to do with it later."
Mark Allott of London had his ticket drawn, making him the winner of the 50/50 jackpot.
Picking up his $428,812 cheque at the Bridlewood Dream Home on Meadowland Way, Allott was still in shock.
"I can't believe this," says Allott. "I saw something about the lottery on TV and bought a ticket online. I hadn't given it another thought until now."
He said he hasn't given a thought on how to spend the money but will likely help his son pay off his student loan.
"We started the Dream Lottery 20 years ago and I've been apart of multiple draws in that 20 year time frame," says Michelle Campbell, president and CEO of the St. Joseph's Health Care Foundation. "It never gets old. It's so exciting, not only to see what this lottery has done in terms of conveying $27-million net return to local health care but how it has changed people's lives over the years."
The Dream Lottery is one of the oldest mega-lotteries in the province and the only one where every dollar raised stays in the community.
Lottery officials were to spend the remainder of Thursday drawing for the rest of the prizes. There are 2,033 prizes in total.
