Nine-year-old donates Chinese New Year lucky money to spread good luck to patients at HSC Winnipeg
Charlotte*, 9, pictured with HSC Foundation staff, donated her lucky money to the HSC Foundation.
Some of the oldest stories of Chinese New Year mention a demon named Sui who would terrorize children as they slept on New Year’s Eve. Parents would try to keep their children awake to protect them from Sui. One New Year’s Eve, a child was given eight coins to play with to keep him awake, but he couldn’t keep his eyes open and drifted off with the coins on his pillow. Sui appeared, but the coins produced a powerful light that drove the demon away. Today, people share lucky red envelopes with “lucky money” inside that represents the eight coins and symbolizes good wishes and luck for the new year.
In 2023, Charlotte* was nine years old when her grandmother gave her a red envelope full of lucky money for Chinese New Year. Without any prompting from her parents, she knew what she wanted to do with it. She could have spent it on drawing supplies, one of her favourite hobbies, or on dinosaur books to prepare for her future as a paleontologist. Instead, Charlotte decided to help others.
“When my dad drove me to school, I heard on the radio that the hospitals were having issues,” says Charlotte. “I knew a little bit about the HSC Foundation because my mommy works at HSC, so I knew they helped people.”
By donating her lucky money to the HSC Foundation, Charlotte is spreading good luck to patients, and the staff who care for them. From there, she hopes the good luck spreads throughout the whole hospital, and across the province that HSC serves.
Charlotte* hopes that her donation to the HSC Foundation will bring good luck to HSC staff and patients.
“I just wanted to give everyone some good luck, and I plan on doing it again next year, too,” says Charlotte.
Charlotte hopes that her donation will inspire others to help the HSC Foundation, maybe even some kids, too.
Donors like Charlotte are making an impact on health care in Manitoba. You too can make an impact, by making a gift through our donation page, or calling the HSC Foundation office at 204-515-5612 or 1-800-679-8493 (toll-free).
*Name changed for confidentiality.
