A lucky South Carolina man donated his entire $150,000 Powerball prize to a local charity.
The Greenville man matched four of the five numbers and the red Powerball after he bought a Quick Pick ticket for the January 16 drawing. He paid an extra dollar for Power Play, which increased his prize money from $50,000 to $150,000.
The winner missed the grand prize by one number. The winning numbers were 4, 14, 33, 39, 61, and the Powerball, 3, according to UpNorthLive. The chances of winning with four numbers and the Powerball are one in 913,129, according to the South Carolina Lottery.
The winner asked to remain anonymous and will not have to pay taxes on the prize since it was donated to an unknown charity in upstate South Carolina.
He told lottery officials, “I hit enough to make someone happy.”
The convenience store the ticket was sold from, The GT Express Mart in Greenville, was rewarded $1,500 as a commission.
Usually, lottery players who get lucky think about buying a house or a car or going on vacation. The entirety of a lottery prize being donated is an unusual outcome.
Fourteen lottery winners who spent big with their prize money were profiled this month by Business Insider. In 2011, John Kutey spent a portion of the $28.7 million won from cashing in a $319 Mega Million Jackpot on building a water park.
Nineteen-year-old Jonathan Vargas won a $35.3 million Powerball in 2009. He spent his winnings to create Wrestlicious, a TV show featuring female wrestlers.
The South Carolina Education Lottery generates funds to be transferred to the state’s General Assembly, which then appropriates the lottery revenue to support education in the state. Last year, the South Carolina Education Lottery transferred $564 million for education.
South Carolina Lottery Commission Chairman Sam Litchfield said, “We will continue to work even harder as a ‘traditional’ lottery to provide proceeds for education.
“This stewardship maximizes the funds available to improve education here in South Carolina … which makes for a bright today and an even brighter tomorrow.”