50/50 Stories

Meet Gerome, the latest Trillium Health Partners (THP) staff member to win over $10,000 through the 50/50 staff lottery.

“I read somewhere that blessings come in doubles for those who learn how to give,” Gerome says of his inspiration behind signing up for the 50/50 staff lottery roughly five years ago, which allows him to give back to the THP community.

Gerome has been a Registered Nurse at THP for the past seven years, working in Medicine at Credit Valley Hospital until his recent move to the Hemodialysis Unit. As a frontline health care worker Gerome prides himself in delivering exceptional, compassionate care to all of his patients. On a personal level, Gerome knows that this kind, expert care at THP extends beyond his own efforts.

In 2013, his wife had a miscarriage and underwent further procedure in the operating room. While an incredibly emotional and unexpected experience, THP was the couple’s hospital of choice without question.

“The doctors and nurses were very considerate and helpful in every way possible.”

Nine years later Gerome and his wife are expecting a baby and the couple are thrilled to be able to use the money to put toward the purchase of a home for their growing family.

“Cliché as it may sound, health is wealth. And when you give back and support health care, you are investing in your own health.”

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Meet Jean, the latest Trillium Health Partners (THP) staff member to win over $10, 000 through our 50/50 staff lottery.

“Credit Valley is very close to my heart, and I am so inspired by the work we do to help so many people.”

Jean knows better than anyone the huge impact community support can have on our hospital staff’s ability to provide exceptional care. She is a Registered Nurse and has been with Trillium Health Partners since 1996. Even after moving to the Niagara Region, Jean continues to commute to Credit Valley Hospital to work in the NICU – a job she cherishes.

Both personally and professionally, Jean has seen firsthand the difficulties that come with being a frontline health care worker. Her youngest son was born premature and spent significant time in Credit Valley Hospital’s NICU. For Jean, being on the other side of the health care system proved what she always knew – the staff at THP go above and beyond for their patients, but they need help to do it.

“Community support helps us buy the equipment and tools we need to provide the best possible care to our patients.”

These experiences inspired Jean to start contributing to the staff 50/50 lottery. For Jean, it was a simple way to give back.

Jean’s sons mean everything to her so when she got the call that she’d won, she immediately knew she would use her winnings to help them with their tuition.

“That money is very helpful to our health care community and by winning I was also able to help my boys.”

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Bozena Bogaczewicz got the surprise of a lifetime when she learned she was the latest Trillium Health Partners (THP) staff member to win over $10,000 through our 50/50 staff lottery.

“If you look at the money you’re donating, it’s a small amount but makes a huge impact,” says Bozena of why she loves giving back through the 50/50 staff lottery, which she has been regularly contributing to since 2010.

Bozena is a physiotherapist who has had various roles at THP since she began her career in 2001. Currently, she works in the ICU, which is where she was when she got the feel-good call.

“I looked at my phone and it said Trillium Health Partners and I just thought ‘it must be my manager or Human Resources,” she recalls. She stepped out of the patient room to accept the call and that’s when she found out.

Excited as she was, this was a situation all too familiar for Bozena. Miraculously, she had already won the 50/50 lottery earlier this year.

“I have a nickname on my unit now: ‘Lucky.’ Everyone is coming and touching me to get some luck and I said to them, ‘buy five or six tickets to support the foundation and one day you will win too.’ It was “my year” as my friends say.”

For Bozena, the hospital is more than just a place where she has grown professionally. It’s where her youngest child was born in 1995. It’s where one of her daughters was treated for a bad infection when she was just two-and-a-half years old. It’s the same hospital where Bozena herself received surgery after breaking her leg skiing.

Bozena plans to use her winnings for practical purchases, like getting winter tires, clothing and some renovations on her new home. A selfless person, she also gave some to her mother and children and donated some to the local dog shelter, recognizing that the holiday season is a time of greater need.

“The easiest way to make a change, is not to watch it happen, but to be an active participant. Thank you for allowing us to participate in changing health care with the staff lottery.”

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Meet Shari Deguara, the Trillium Health Partners (THP) staff member who recently won over $10, 000 through our 50/50 staff lottery.

“Good things certainly come to those who wait,” says Shari, a 21-year veteran of Trillium Health Partners.

She currently works as a Pharmacy Technician in the Pharma Centre at the Queensway Health Centre site. Since she began at THP over two decades ago, Shari has been actively contributing to the staff 50/50 lottery.

“I remember when I first started the volunteers would come around with a bucket and tickets for the lottery. Over time it transitioned to online payroll and suddenly the jackpot was no longer $300 dollars, it had gone up to $10,000 every two weeks.”

As the years went one, Shari contributed to the lottery, and oftentimes didn’t feel like winning was within her reach. Regardless, she found comfort knowing her bi-weekly contributions were benefitting health care in her community.

For Shari, THP was more than just a hospital. It was a community of compassionate and kind health care experts that provided exceptional cardiac care and treatment for her husband and later, a hip replacement. She felt the 50:50 lottery was a simple and efficient way to give back and show her appreciation for a hospital she worked in and accessed.

When Shari returned from lunch one day with a missed phone call, she and her colleagues joked about the potential that Shari could be the winner of the staff lottery. The laughing didn’t last long when she called the number back and heard the good news. After all these years, she had finally won.

“It rendered me speechless, which is very rare,” Shari remarked.

Shari used some of her winnings for a group Halloween costume with her fellow colleagues, each staff member of hers receiving a care bare as a momentum.

“I definitely told my colleagues that it was worth it to sign up for the 50/50 lottery. It’s such a benefit to the hospital and if you ever get lucky, it can be a real win-win for everyone!”

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For Andrew Randall, the latest Trillium Health Partners (THP) staff member to win over $10,000 as part of our 50/50 staff lottery, giving back through this initiative transcends the potential for a pay-out. “For me, the staff lottery is a way to feel a sense of community among my colleagues, and give back to my community in a fun, simple way.”

Andrew has worked at Trillium Health Partners since 2016, when he joined the crisis team as a Master of Social Work student. Over the years he has moved around to follow various interests within the organization and currently, works as an Enterprise Risk Consultant with the Quality Patient Safety and Emergency Preparedness Team, all while pursuing his MBA at McMaster University. With pending tuition fees, the win couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.

“My mood just soared,” Andrew says of the moment he found out. “My day was sort of normal and I was feeling like I do every day and then you get the call and I felt like, ‘wow my day just got 10 times better!’”

After using the money to help pay his tuition, he plans to save some of the money to put toward an annual membership at a local rock climbing gym.

Originally a resident of Peel, Credit Valley Hospital has always been his family’s hospital. It’s where he was rushed when he broke his arm in elementary school and  where his Grandmother received life-saving breast cancer care.. Most recently, his father underwent cardiac surgery during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, back when patients were not allowed visitors. While scary, Andrew and his family felt comforted knowing that he was in good hands, being cared for by a team of compassionate, knowledgeable, and highly-skilled care team. These experiences serve as inspiration for Andrew to continue giving back through the Better Together 50/50 Lottery, a simple, inexpensive way to give back  to our hospitals.

“That’s what Trillium is all about, right? Giving back to your community,” Andrew adds. “The staff 50/50 lottery is truly a win-win for everyone.”

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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.

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