Unemployed Calgary woman wins $1M charity sweepstakes

A Calgary woman who has been out of work since May has plenty to celebrate this holiday season.

Shari Laubenstein won $1 million in the early bird draw of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation's Shop4Charity Calendar Sweepstakes.

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Laubenstein said her husband "didn't believe her" when she shared the big news with him on Monday.

"[It] probably was tricky for him to not go to work Tuesday morning, but he did. And thank goodness he's working," she told the Calgary Eyeopener.

She said she purchased several calendars in the charity sweepstakes to support a friend who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

The step-mother of two says the money "definitely" came at a good time.

She plans to use it to pay off her mortgage and donate to more charities.

"Help the community a little bit, as well, because there's a lot of people worse off."

The 49-year-old said she doesn't plan to retire off the money and will continue to lookfor work.

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener