Canadian teen donated $61 as a child, then won $48 million on her first lottery ticket

ASM, Philippine Canadian Inquirer
October 28, 2026

Photo courtesy: Sootoday

At five years old, Juliette Lamour emptied her piggy bank to help strangers in need. Thirteen years later, she became a multimillionaire.

But what makes her story remarkable goes beyond the C$48-million jackpot. It’s what she hoped to do with the money.

In January 2010, a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, leaving communities in ruins and thousands of families in desperate need of help.

Juliette, then five, and her younger sister Sophie, aged two, decided to contribute to relief efforts.

The sisters brought their shared pink piggy bank to a Canadian Red Cross fundraiser during a Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds hockey game.

Inside was $61.38 – their entire savings.

They donated every cent.

Thirteen years later, Juliette made Canadian lottery history.

Shortly after turning 18, she purchased her first-ever lottery ticket at her grandfather’s suggestion. That ticket won the C$48-million Lotto 6/49 Gold Ball jackpot in the January 7, 2023 draw.

She became the youngest person in Canada to win a lottery jackpot of that size.

Juliette learned about her extraordinary win while working part-time at a pharmacy. After hearing that someone in Sault Ste. Marie had won the lottery, she remembered buying a ticket and asked a colleague to check it.

The result left them stunned.

On February 3, 2023, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation officially presented her with the prize.

Then, an old photograph resurfaced.

Published by local news outlet SooToday in 2010, it showed young Juliette and Sophie with the piggy bank they had emptied to help earthquake survivors.

The photograph brought renewed attention to a childhood act of generosity that had happened long before Juliette’s unexpected fortune.

When asked about it, Juliette said she had received countless messages from people telling her that good things happen to good people.

She could not explain her incredible luck, but she knew what mattered to her.

She wanted to give back.

At the time, Juliette was a first-year biology student at Algoma University. Despite her newfound wealth, she had no plans to abandon her education.

Her dream was to become a doctor and return to Northern Ontario to serve her community.

“I really want to come back to this area as a doctor so I can give back to my community,” she said in a statement released by the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation.

As a member of the Garden River First Nation, she also recognized that she would no longer need educational assistance previously available to her, leaving those resources for another community member.

Juliette planned to invest most of her winnings with guidance from her father, a financial planner. She also hoped to travel with her family and experience different cultures.

But her commitment to family, education, and community remained at the center of her plans.

In an interview with Village Media’s Inside the Village in February 2023, she reflected on what she hoped her fortune could accomplish.

“We’ve always been big community people, and we want to give back to the community,” she said.

The little girl who once gave away everything in her piggy bank now had millions at her disposal.

Her circumstances had changed dramatically. Her desire to help others had not.