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Victoria charity receives backlash, removes tweet after Dr. Bonnie Henry wins e-bikes

Henry won the bikes in a randomly-selected public lottery fundraiser
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The Victoria Hospitals Foundation removed a tweet about Dr. Bonnie Henry winning a public lottery prize after it received hateful online comments. Their Facebook post (pictured) remains up. (Victoria Hospitals Foundation/Facebook) The Victoria Hospitals Foundation removed a tweet about Dr. Bonnie Henry winning a public lottery prize after it received hateful online comments. Their Facebook post (pictured) remains up. (Victoria Hospitals Foundation/Facebook)

The Victoria Hospitals Foundation removed a tweet Friday (June 3) about Dr. Bonnie Henry winning a fundraiser lottery prize, after the post fuelled a significant amount of online hate.

Numerous people suggested the draw for two e-bikes was rigged or that Henry winning represented a conflict of interest, but the charity foundation said the winner was randomly selected out of 4,226 tickets by a computer application.

They released a statement outlining the specifics of their lottery process June 4 in hopes of quelling any public theories.

“VHF does not discriminate against any eligible community member who wishes to participate in our public lotteries. As clearly stated on our website and social media platforms, all draws are random. We are not permitted to redraw if we are not satisfied with the outcome of a draw,” the statement read.

While we understand that some community members are disheartened by the outcome of this draw, we remain assured that all proper protocols were followed and executed.”

They added that Henry is not an employee of the foundation.

Tweeting about their decision to remove the intial post on Friday, the foundation said it fuelled too much unnecessary hate.

“This year we’ve seen our online community either love healthcare workers, or vilify them. After so much, like anything in life, you can choose to walk away if it’s not serving a purpose. And that’s what we have chosen to do,” they tweeted.

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Black Press Media Staff

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