A beauty queen who struck gold in the Lottery has found happiness by giving her money away to help other people.
Rachel Lapierre's big win in 2013 saw her bag a guaranteed $1,000 (£605) every week for the rest of her life. But instead of spoiling herself, the former beauty queen has been giving her money to prop up her amazing charity. The Canadian was already involved in helping others work when her numbers came up. But she is now using her winnings to bring joy to other people in her native Montreal, as well as countries like Haiti Senegal and India, BBC reports. Her work ranges from providing hot food and clothes to the homeless in Quebec to street clinics in Kolkata. The selfless Ms Lapierre said: "Money is money. When you're born you don't have anything.
Rachel Lapierre's big win in 2013 saw her bag a guaranteed $1,000 (£605) every week for the rest of her life. But instead of spoiling herself, the former beauty queen has been giving her money to prop up her amazing charity. The Canadian was already involved in helping others work when her numbers came up. But she is now using her winnings to bring joy to other people in her native Montreal, as well as countries like Haiti Senegal and India, BBC reports. Her work ranges from providing hot food and clothes to the homeless in Quebec to street clinics in Kolkata. The selfless Ms Lapierre said: "Money is money. When you're born you don't have anything.
"And when you go [die], you go with nothing but your memories. You go with what you did here in life."We just try to promote good deeds. Good deeds can be so many things."It can be a bike, it can be food, it can be transported to go to the hospital. It can even be just listening to somebody on the phone because they are lonely."I think happiness comes from the heart. It's nice to have a new home or car. It can be really fun but you don't need that to be happy."Kind Rachel, 56, left her nursing career behind her just months after winning the Lotto. And she wasted no time launching her very own charity Le Book Humanitaire.
In the 1980s Rachel's life was very different. She joined a local modelling school and as a result, entered Miss Quebec. She won in 1982, and aged 21 toured Canada in the following year. But while the world of pageants and modelling might seem a million miles from running a charity, Rachel sees similarities. She said: "At 20, I loved helping, but I did not know that I would necessarily go in that direction."I learnt everything I could. I realised that giving pleasure made me happy and that doing good deeds fed me."Her success led to her setting up her own modelling school, to help young women build careers in the industry.
The business was closed so she could focus on bringing up her own children, but Rachel didn't stop learning or trying to help. She trained as a nurse, working in emergency departments in Quebec, and was in contact with humanitarian organisations overseas throughout. And then her numbers came up. She told Le Journal de Montreal: "I figured that if I won, I would go ahead with this project of founding a charity."I had [already] been doing humanitarian aid for many years."There are no employees. We decided to provide assistance services to the populations."The charity is funded by donations, with any gap being made up from Rachel's pockets. She said: "I grew up in a poor environment and saw misery and sadness."I told myself that if we put it down if we all made a small gesture, the world would be better."