SACRAMENTO, March 30, 2007 – Today the final Grand Prize worth $1 million drawn in the California Lottery’s Million Dollar Raffle was claimed by eight co-workers. All nine Raffle numbers worth $1 million each that were selected by the California Lottery on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, have now been claimed by the lucky winners.
The final $1 million Raffle Grand Prize was claimed by a group of eight Los Angeles County co-workers lead by Sheryl Theroit. She purchased the winning Million Dollar Raffle number, 2424093, at ARCO AM/PM in Paramount. “When I realized we won, I called the office to tell them right away,” said Theriot. “By the time I returned to work, everyone was waiting for me at the front door. Some were the other winners and the rest were co-workers who wanted to congratulate us!”
The first to claim a $1 million Grand Prize was Norman Weber who purchased his ticket in Castro Valley. “I was looking through the paper to check the results when I realized I had one of the winning Raffle numbers,” Weber said. “The funny thing is, at that very moment, I was calling the person who convinced me to buy a Raffle ticket in the first place. Talk about coincidences!” If that isn’t enough, Weber spent $20 and took advantage of the Lottery’s buy four Raffle numbers, get one free, promotion. It was that fifth and free Raffle number that netted Weber $1 million!
Robert Catena, an Orange County business owner, came forward to claim his $1 million cash prize on behalf of a group of five. Catena discovered he was a Million Dollar Raffle Grand Prize winner when he checked the winning numbers Sunday morning in his local newspaper. When asked if he had ever won anything else in his life, he replied, “The only other thing I have ever won was a bowling ball! This sure beats a bowling ball!”
Salvador Flores was the group leader of 32 other Southern California Gas Company employees who purchased their winning Million Dollar Raffle number in San Bernardino. After checking his Raffle numbers on the California Lottery website he told his wife. “She almost fell off the treadmill when I told her I had won. She double-checked the numbers and was shocked to find out that the last Raffle number was the winning one,” said Flores. Flores said that when he went to purchase the Raffle numbers, he initially was only going to buy 10 numbers, but changed his mind at the last minute and decided to buy 15 Raffle numbers. Of course, it was the 15th number turned out to be worth $1 million.
Linda Aguilar bought her $1 million Raffle ticket in Hacienda Heights while celebrating a family member’s birthday. Aguilar isn’t sure what she’ll do with her prize, but says, “I want to try to save all the dogs I can.”
Below is a full list of winning $1 million Grand Prize Raffle numbers and winners:
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| 0158766 |
Cecilia Madrid |
M & M Liquor
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3122 N. Los Coyotes Diagonal, Long Beach 90808 |
0167277
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Sandra Hooper
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La Tobacco Inc.
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3159 S. Hoover St., Los Angeles 90007 |
| 0600421 |
Salvador Flores |
Valencia Liquor |
704 E. Highland Ave., San Bernardino 92404 |
| 0731408 |
Rose Hinkle |
7-Eleven |
2615 Carson St., Lakewood 90712 |
| 1387496 |
Linda Aguilar |
Casa Blanca Mexican Restaurant |
15922 E. Gale Ave., Hacienda Heights 91745 |
1659513
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Norman Weber
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Bonfare Market
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19125 Redwood Rd., Castro Valley 94546 |
| 1868339 |
Robert Catena |
Baycrest Liquor |
333 E. 17th St., Costa Mesa 92627 |
2344993
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Gary Durian
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Stater Bros.
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18526 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda 92886 |
| 2424093 |
Sheryl Theriot |
ARCO AM/PM |
15900 Paramount Ave., Paramount 90723 |
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The Million Dollar Raffle offered players the best odds of winning a million bucks ever offered by a California Lottery game. Nine Grand Prize winning Raffle numbers worth $1 million cash each were drawn on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, and four preliminary draws were held in which a total of 40 Raffle numbers worth $10,000 each were selected. For a full list of winning Raffle numbers and where they were sold visit: http://www.calottery.com/Games/Raffle/WinningNumbers/.
The California Lottery contributes at least 34 cents of every dollar that players spend on Lottery products to public education. The Lottery contributed $1.28 billion to public education in 2005-06 out of sales of $3.58 billion, the sixth year in a row the Lottery has provided more than $1 billion in supplemental funding for education. Retailers won too, earning over $252 million in compensation last year selling Lottery products. Since its inception in 1985, the Lottery has contributed more than $18 billion to California schools.