It is a dream for many people to win the lottery. Suddenly coming into all that money makes most people feel as if it would be on Easy Street, but it doesn’t always work out well.
If you ever dreamed of winning the lottery, one of the things that you probably have thought frequently about is what you would do with all of the money. That is also something that Francis Connelly wondered, but then, at 55 years of age, she won the EuroMillions in 2019.
After winning about $145 million, she left her job as a social worker and teacher in Northern Ireland. She started sharing her money right away, giving money to family and friends. She had even written the list in advance just in case she ever hit the jackpot.
Along with helping out family and friends, Connelly also set up two charitable foundations. One of those foundations, Kathleen Graham, was named after her late mother. The other one is PFC Trust which supports local careers, refugees, and the elderly in the town where she grew up.
As of right now, she has given away about half of the winnings. In order to do so, she even had to keep it a secret from her husband.
Ever since she was a child, she was a volunteer. She helped out in many different ways and now she had the opportunity to help in ways that she never dreamed
possible.
She said: “If I had any advice for a winner… I’d say money liberates you to be the person that you want to be.”
At this time, she still helps out in her community with refugees, the unemployed, the elderly, and caregivers. Tablets are given away to seniors so they can keep in touch with their families.
Essentially, Connelly says that she is addicted to helping others. When the local news asked her if she was happy to give the money away, she said: “Why wouldn’t you? I’ve done that all my life.”
She also spent some money on herself, purchasing a six-bedroom home on 7 acres of land. Her husband also drives a secondhand Austin Martin.
Although they have a lot of money, they still live a relatively normal life. Mr. Connelly still works hard in their plastics business and she works with her foundations. She doesn’t regret a moment of helping others.
“If you can do good things for deserving people, why wouldn’t you just do it?” she said, as quoted by Mirror UK, “It makes no sense to me to have that kind of money and not use it to do good in the world.”