SACRAMENTO – Almost three weeks ago the California Lottery reported that a quarter of a million dollar MEGA Millions® winning ticket was floating around town. Apparently it wasn’t floating around at all or in the usual secret places ticket holders check. It was on its way, along well traveled postal routes, from Bakersfield to California Lottery Headquarters in Sacramento.
“Players have two options when claiming prizes of $600 or more,” clarified Director Joan Borucki. “We suggest players sign tickets immediately after purchase and make a photocopy for their records. After obtaining a claim form from a local retailer or downloading one from our Web site, they then have the option of mailing both the claim form and ticket or visiting one of our strategically located nine district offices throughout the state. With larger prizes, we tend to see winners coming into our district offices.”
The winner who opted to mail in his almost $250,000 ticket and who prefers to remain anonymous, spoke by phone with California Lottery officials. He expressed his sense of gratefulness saying, “You know, I just feel so blessed, like God blessed me.” But when asked why he mailed his ticket his only reply was, “I thought that’s the way you do it.”
He went on to say that the money couldn’t have come at a better time for him and his family. When prodded about what he would do with his money, he started to laugh saying that he and his wife, “are just real ecstatic.” And then, shifting attention in an attempt to bring significance to what he was about to say, he explained, “It’s for my son.”
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 more than $20 billion to California schools out of total sales of nearly $55 billion. Retailers benefit too, earning $3.5 billion in compensation since 1985.