Donations totalling NT$5 million from an anonymous lottery winner were handed over yesterday to five charitable organizations, the first publicized donation by a winner since the Public Welfare Lottery was launched in January.
"I don't know who you are, but thank you," said Zhou Tien-hung (
Zhou was speaking at a ceremony during which the donations were announced at the headquarters of Taipei Bank (台北銀行), which operates the computerized lottery.
Minister of the Interior Yu Cheng-hsien (
Aside from the Mennonite Christian Hospital, the Eden Social Welfare Foundation, the Creation Social Welfare Foundation, the Rare Disease Foundation and the Chuangshih Foundation, were on the list of beneficiaries.
"The winner's benevolent action should serve as an example to all other lottery players," Yu said.
The Taipei Bank has declined to release information about the winner or about the size of his or her win or when the prize was won, but it said that all five organizations were chosen by the winner.
"The winner asked us to donate the money after walking into our office for the reward," said Chai Hsiao-pi (
"I believe that such warm-heartedness might infect other individuals. I hope that there will be more and more winners who donate part of their winnings in the future," said Kuo Hui-ming (郭慧明), representative of the Creation Social Welfare Foundation.
Lin Chin-chuan (林錦川), representative of the Eden Social Welfare Foundation, said that the donation is very important to them, since soliciting funds has become quite difficult during the ongoing economic downturn.
A local Chinese-language newspaper reported that the winner is a man about 30 years old who works in the Hsinchu area. He is said to have won about NT$48 million in the lottery early this month.
Taipei Bank refused to comment on the report and vehemently denied leaking information about the winner.
The lottery was launched in January to help the government through its financial difficulties.
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