This lucky lady plans to wipe out a debt and do home improvement projects with her big prize. |
Cambridge mother of two wins with Bonus Crossword game
“I couldn’t sleep last night. I have been up since 3 a.m.!” exclaimed Rhonda Harris of Dorchester County, after Maryland Lottery officials congratulated her on a $30,000 scratch-off win. Finding a top prize on the Bonus Crossword scratch-off is life changing, Rhonda said, because it enables her to pay off a large debt.
“This money was a surprise and a huge relief,” she said. “For years, I have been working two jobs as a caretaker and a Royal Farms employee just to try to pay off this debt. Let’s just say this is a huge weight off of my shoulders.”
The private duty nurse found her Lottery luck at Clayton’s Pharmacy in Cambridge, where she went to pick up a prescription. While there, Rhonda decided to grab a few scratch-offs to play later while she watched one of her favorite soap operas. The first two instant tickets didn’t deliver any prizes. On her last scratch-off, however, the happy player saw something that made her scream — a 10-word match!
As she ran upstairs to tell her husband, the mother of two scanned the instant ticket with her My Lottery Rewards app to see if it truly was a winner. The app confirmed her prize but she remained dubious about such a big win. Next, Rhonda handed the instant ticket to her son to scan on his phone with his Lottery app. After he scanned the winning ticket, her son said, “Mom, we’re going to have a great Mother’s Day this year!”
The 47-year-old still doubted her good fortune, so she took the scratch-off to a different Lottery retailer to have it scanned a third time. “The cashier grabbed my ticket and scanned it on her side of the counter and then it hit me — I just won the Lottery,” Rhonda said, still smiling. After paying off her debt, Rhonda plans to use the rest of her winnings for home improvement projects.
Also celebrating the big win is Clayton’s Pharmacy. For selling the top-prize scratch-off in the $3 game, the Lottery retailer located at 404B Washington Street in Cambridge earns a $300 bonus from the Lottery.
Bonus Crossword is an extended-play scratch-off. Many lucky scratch-offs are still waiting for discovery in Maryland stores! Players have claimed only three of the 10 $30,000 top-tier prizes since the game’s debut this February.