New Jersey Lottery Executive Director, Carole Hedinger, announced that three, one-million dollar prize winners have come forward to claim their Mega Millions prizes.
“Meeting Lottery winners is a rewarding aspect of my position,” Hedinger said. “Each winner has a story to tell and many share it openly, with gratitude for the life changes that the win will provide them and their families. Most often, I don’t hear about extravagant plans. People simply want to pay off a mortgage or other debts and begin a new chapter of their lives with a sense of freedom.”
One such winner was Clarence from Marlton in Burlington County.
He is long retired from his position as a Judge’s aide in New Jersey Superior Court. Playing the Lottery games is one of his
routines. “Mega Millions is my favorite game because it’s only one dollar to play,” Clarence said. Now, he has a million more reasons to favor the game since his ticket matched the five white balls to win the million dollar prize from the Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2015 drawing.
Clarence and his wife Priscilla were extremely pleased with the win.
They had been keeping the ticket in a “very safe place” for the past few months. “We kept wondering whether it was really true,” Priscilla said.
She checked the winning numbers multiple times to be certain that it truly was a winning ticket. They held onto the ticket until the New Year so that they could begin the year on a positive note. “This will be a good start for our grandkids’ and great grandkids’ college funds,” she said.
Their lucky retailer is 7-Eleven #10917 (S), 2 East Main St., Marlton.
Ramon C. had no intention of waiting to claim his winning million dollar ticket. He came to headquarters one week after the Friday, December 4, 2015 Mega Millions drawing.
A retired truck driver, Ramon said that he has been playing the Lottery for 25 years. He recalled his excitement when he won “$1,440 back in the 90’s” and he kept on dreaming that this day would arrive. Ramon is the primary caregiver for his wife and this win will allow him to continue to do that. Their two sons will also receive “a helping hand.” He only played two boards that day “because all you need is one winner. You just have to keep the faith.” Ramon purchased his ticket at 7-Eleven #34523, 29 County Rd., Tenafly in Bergen County.
Lastly, we met Kenneth Horton, who held onto his one million dollar Mega Millions prizewinning ticket from the December 4, 2015 drawing until the New Year. He’s a 26-year veteran HVAC mechanic and was excited that now he will be able to pay for his daughter’s college education. He plans on moving to a new home, financially helping his family and continuing to live a humble life. His lucky retailer is Montclair Food & Fuel, 115 Bloomfield Avenue, Montclair.
Congratulations to all of our millions of Lottery winners of prizes large and small.
In Fiscal Year 2015, the Lottery paid out more than $1.82 billion in prizes to players representing nearly 61 percent of revenue generated from all ticket sales.
Nearly 111 million tickets were validated and paid in that fiscal year.
Mega Millions drawings are held on Tuesdays and Fridays and can be seen on WABC TV stations. Watch live New Jersey Lottery drawings for the Pick-3, Pick-4, Jersey Cash 5, Pick-6 and CASH4LIFE games at the Lottery website (NJLottery.com) or on the official Lottery Facebook Page. Midday and evening draws, with the exception of CASH4LIFE, can be seen on WPIX-TV (PIX11) in New York and WPHL-TV (PHL17) in Philadelphia.
Since its inception in 1970, the New Jersey Lottery (NJLottery.com) has contributed nearly $24 billion to the State in support of education and institutions. In Fiscal Year 2015, the Lottery’s contribution was more than $960 million. Among its beneficiaries are: veterans homes, colleges and universities, school nutrition programs, homes for the developmentally disabled, psychiatric hospitals, higher education scholarship programs and the Marie Katzenbach School for the Deaf.