Friend’s gift turns into lottery prize for Virginia mom. Now, she’s helping her son
A friend’s gift turned into a lottery prize for a Virginia mom — and now, she wants to help her son.
Deborah Williams said she plans to put her six-figure winnings toward her son’s college tuition.
Williams won the prize as her son was getting ready to leave for college. To mark the milestone, her friend gave her a ticket for the 50X the Money scratch-off game, the Virginia Lottery wrote in a Sept. 8 news release.
“We scratched it,” Williams, an Afton resident, told lottery officials. “We looked at it many, many times.”
It turns out, the ticket scored Williams a $200,000 prize. Officials in their news release didn’t say how much money she kept after taxes.
Her lucky ticket was sold for $20 at Blue Ridge Grocery in Nellysford, roughly 100 miles northwest of Richmond.
It’s not the first time a gift has given someone a big reason to celebrate. In North Carolina, a 71-year-old man sat in silence after he received a jackpot-winning ticket for his birthday, McClatchy News reported in December.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREWhen gambling is more than a game
Gambling is designed to be a source of entertainment.
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
