SACRAMENTO - The California Lottery's TV game show, "Make Me a Millionaire," awarded more than $179,000 in cash and prizes to 12 contestants this week.
Contestants Heidi Hawkridge and Sue Chiong topped all winners by taking 
home $40,000 each in the Millionaire game and the California Cool game, respectively. Hawkridge, who hails from Brentwood, said that she’s been playing the Lottery “since Day 1” and that she planned to use her winnings on a trip to Germany. Chiong, a legal clerk from Rosemead, said she also planned to use her winnings to “take a nice trip” with her husband, perhaps to Australia.
Other big winners included J. Jesus Abundiz Garcia, a maintenance worker from Fresno, and Mike Shannon, an auditor from Sacramento – each won a new car playing Lucky Penny.
Here is a list of some of this week’s top winners:
| Heidi Hawkridge |
Millionaire |
Brentwood |
$40,000 |
| Sue Chiong |
California Cool |
Rosemead |
$40,000 |
| J. Jesus Abundiz Garcia |
Lucky Penny |
Fresno |
NEW CAR |
| Mike Shannon |
Lucky Penny |
Sacramento |
NEW CAR |
For more information about the new show, visit www.calottery.com. For high resolution photos, please contact (916) 324-9639 or e-mail newsroom@calottery.com.
More than 95 cents of every Lottery dollar is returned to the community in the form of contributions to education, prizes and retail commissions. The California Lottery contributes at least 34 cents of every dollar that players spend on Lottery products to public education and returns more than 50 percent of sales to players in the form of prizes. Since its inception in 1985, the Lottery has contributed nearly $21 billion to California schools out of total sales of more than $56 billion. Retailers benefit too, earning $3.6 billion in compensation since 1985.