 Jennifer O’Neill of Annapolis is rebuilding her nest egg with a $10,000 scratch-off win. |
Prize will help her dream of a housing change come true
A Maryland Lottery scratch-off win will enable Jennifer O’Neill of Annapolis to make her dream of finding – and feathering – a new nest come true. The $10,000 prize she won on a $100,000 Gold Rush scratch-off will replenish the housing funds she kept tapping into to meet other expenses.
“This couldn’t come at a better time,” said the 27-year-old, who has a 6-year-old daughter Jayla and lives with roommates.
A clerk at the Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services in Annapolis, Jennifer has enjoyed playing scratch-offs since she turned 18. She dabbled in Powerball “when it was like $1 billion,” she said, “but I’m really a scratch-off kind of girl.” This win eclipses her other small prizes on the $100,000 Gold Rush game.
“I never in a million years expected to win anything more than $100,” Jennifer said.
On the Saturday of her lucky win, the Anne Arundel County woman visited the 7-Eleven store at 7301 Furnace Branch Road in Glen Burnie. She cashed a winning scratch-off, got something to eat and left without buying a scratch-off.
“A few hours went by and I thought, ‘I’m going to go back,’” she said.
She bought $40 worth of scratch-offs and was stunned when the $100,000 Gold Rush ticket showed row after row of winning numbers.
Elated, Jennifer called her mother.
“I said, ‘Mom, do you have a calculator?’ and my mom said, ‘Jen, I think you won $10,000.’ I said, ‘This is not real!’”
There are still plenty of prizes remaining on this $10 scratch-off, from four top prizes of $100,000 to more than 250,000 other prizes ranging from $10 to $20,000. The Gold Rush family of games, which arrived in stores on Jan. 25, includes a $1, $2 and $5 scratch-off.