“I just write a check every year (for the Foothills Hospital Home Lottery) out of habit and think nothing more of it,” Firth says.

Firth and his wife, Linda, won the $2.3 million grand prize home by Thomson Luxury Living in Heritage Pointe in this year’s lottery, which raised more than $2 million for cardiac sciences.

Despite the economic downturn, tickets sold out three weeks before even the Early Bird deadline of April 29, says Calgary Health Trust lotteries director Matt Reiser.

“We’ve still done well — if you have a good product, market it right and it goes to good cause, you’ll be okay,” he said.

Since the lottery launched in 1993, ticket purchasers have helped raise over $38 million to support the Foothills Medical Centre.