Lottery Winner Sends $100,000 to Aid Russians
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ERIE, Pa. — A lottery winner donated $100,000 to send food and medicine to Russia, saying he wanted to set an example for other baby boomers who grew up hating the Soviet Union.
“I was a baby boomer born in 1947, raised with Roy Rogers, Howdy Doody, and air raid drills,” said Ken Wayne. “They told us not to trust the Russians, that they were bad and we were good.
“But all that’s changed, and now all the baby boomers who went through this have a chance to help Russia get back on its feet.”
Wayne, 44, ran a bedspread and drapery shop until he won $9.6 million in the Pennsylvania Lotto on Feb. 6, 1990. He receives $367,000 a year after taxes.
Television footage of a hungry Moscow man prompted him to contact AmeriCares, a nonprofit New Canaan, Conn., group that delivers medical supplies, food and clothing to the poor worldwide.
The group used his $100,000 donation to charter a flight that carried 206,000 pounds of medicine and food to seven children’s hospitals in the Moscow area.
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