Giving back is Carrie Edwards DNA.
So, when she recently won $150,000 from the Virginia State Lottery, she knew just what she wanted to do with it – give it away. She’s splitting her entire winnings between three nonprofit organizations, including the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, a cause deeply rooted in her family’s history and values.
“I think, in today’s world and in the environment we’re in, I think another thing I hope is to pass on what it’s like to be responsible for serving one another,” Edwards said. “We’re all just walking each other home and we’re here to lend a helping hand whenever we can.”
Her father, the late Capt. Peter Swanson was a Navy fighter pilot known for his devotion to the Navy and the men and women who served. Throughout his life, Swanson and his wife were passionate advocates of NMCRS, regularly making donations in support of the NMCRS mission to provide financial and other assistance for active-duty and retired Navy and Marine Corps service members and their families.
Edwards won the money by matching four of the first five numbers plus the Powerball number on her lottery ticket in the Sept. 8 drawing. She purchased the winning ticket online and used ChatGPT to pick her numbers.
“Chat wrote back and said, ‘luck is luck,’” Edwards said. “It gave me five sets of numbers — they didn’t mean anything to me, but those are the ones I entered.”
Edwards was in a meeting when she got a text asking her to pick up her winnings. She initially thought the text was a scam and was surprised when she verified its authenticity. Edwards picked up her winnings on Sept. 16.
“I knew I was supposed to give it all away,” she said.
Edwards said before her father’s passing in 2023, Swanson left one final request in his will - that each of his three children donate $34,000 to NMCRS, totaling $100,000 in his honor.
“It’s in honor of my father and my mother and the legacy they’ve left us,” she said. “How they modeled for us is how I’m modeling for my children. I have six grandchildren and I want them to have that same drive to help others and to be of service, because that’s what love really is, helping one another.”
NMCRS Vice President, Chief Development and Communications Officer Gillian Gonzalez said when she learned about the donation, she didn’t need to guess who made it.
“That is just who Carrie is,” she said.
Edwards also donated a portion of her winnings to the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration (AFTD), which supports research, education, and family resources for those affected by early-onset dementia. The donation was made in memory of her husband, Steve, who passed away from FTD. Her third donation supported Shalom Farms, a nonprofit farm and food justice organization working for an equitable food system in Richmond, Virginia.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.