ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 8, 1995 TAG: 9512080094
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A14 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MEMPHIS, TENN.
SOURCE: THE NEW YORK TIMES
PASS GO. COLLECT $1 MILLION. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital was the winner when an anonymous donor sent it a grand prize McDonald's Monopoly card.
Tammie Murphy, 32, often finds checks, coupons and a fair amount of junk mail in the more than 700 envelopes she opens each day as a donations clerk at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital here.
But last Thursday, toward the end of her work day, Murphy found something she had never seen in her nine years on the job: a winning card from a McDonald's lottery-type game worth $1 million.
The colorful 12-inch-square card arrived in a plain white envelope. There was no indication of who sent it: no return address, no accompanying note.
But it was postmarked from Dallas on Nov. 24, the day after Thanksgiving. That was the day after the McDonald's game, Monopoly, began.
At first, Murphy thought the card was just more junk mail and was about to throw it away. Then, she said Thursday, ``The words `instant winner' really caught my eye.''
Hospital officials called the toll-free number on the card to report the gift. The official rules say the prizes are nontransferrable, but Edward H. Rensi, president of McDonald's U.S.A., and a group of restaurant owners and operators made the decision to bend the rules for St. Jude,
Over the weekend, the game card was kept locked in a fireproof box at the hospital. Tuesday, McDonald's officials came to the hospital, accompanied by a representative from the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, who examined the card under a jeweler's eyepiece and handled it with plastic gloves. Only then was it verified a winner.
Thursday, the gift was announced at a news conference attended by officials from the hospital and McDonald's Corp., a few patients and Ronald McDonald himself.
Like the other two $1 million prizes still available in the game, the donation will be paid in annual installments of $50,000 over the next 20 years, with the first check coming this month.
McDonald's and hospital officials were adamant about respecting the donor's wishes to remain anonymous and said they had no plans to investigate further.
McDonald's officials said they had no role in the mailing. Jane Dukes, a spokeswoman for the company in Oak Brook, Ill., said, ``We couldn't have dreamed this up, but we think it's great.''
Richard Shadyac, executive director of St. Jude's fund-raising arm, said the hospital received very little money from corporations, but ``McDonald's has always given generously.''
He said that in 1974, Ray Kroc, the founder of the chain, gave Danny Thomas, the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a check for $1 million.
LENGTH: Medium: 58 linesby CNB