Earlier this month, IT Service Desk employee, Allyson Raymond was in a Wal-Mart with her youngest daughter when a random phone number flashed across her cellphone screen. She answered the call, curious.
“I thought, this has got to be a scam. Why is Alison calling Allyson,” she said remembering the exact moment Trillium Health Partners (THP) Foundation’s Philanthropy Coordinator, Alison Walters, called to tell her she had won $10,000 through the THP 50/50 staff lottery.
“You know when someone tells you something and you hear it but you don’t really hear it?” Allyson says. She was overtaken by a flurry of emotion – shock, elation and disbelief, excitedly shouting in the middle of the busy store.
A lifelong resident of Mississauga, Allyson is a single mom to two daughters, Alexa age 16 and Yasmine age 24. She has worked at THP for 23 years and is currently the only woman on a nine-person team at the IT Services Help Desk. Over the years, it’s likely you’ve called her with a computer or Outlook issue, her warmth, patience and kindness emanating through the telephone.
Beyond her professional career, Trillium Health Partners is something like a second home for Allyson. Growing up she would walk to Mississauga Hospital after school to visit her mom who for two decades worked in the Intensive Care Nursery on the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). To this day, Allyson lives about ten minutes away, frequently passing by the Hospital on strolls through her neighbourhood. This sense of community is what inspired her to give back through the 50/50 lottery.
“I always think, ‘what if my own daughters needed health care’ and that inspires me to give back to help others in my community who may need it,” says Allyson of her reason for signing up all those years ago. For her, the potential to win was a nice bonus, but supporting her community hospital was key.
“Kindness is free,” Allyson adds. “And if you can give, even a small amount can make a big difference.