Eight people from New Jersey will share the $430 million Powerball jackpot after their numbers were drawn last weekend.
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The family chose the lump sum of $284 million, which will be about $35 million each when it’s split evenly among them.
The ticket is the largest single jackpot winning ticket sold in New Jersey and the sixth-largest in Powerball history.
The family said it took them a few days to announce themselves before the public because they wanted to make sure they handled the money wisely.
“The numbers chosen are not birthdays or anniversaries”, said Valerie Arthur, the eldest.
She said the jackpot was an “affirmation from God” for family members to work in their community.
“If it does change me I think it will change me for the better”, said Arthur, when asked about her new wealth.
The winning numbers were 69-32-52-66-20 with the red Powerball being 23.
The winners picked their own numbers, Hedinger said.
Lottery officials in New Jersey say the winning ticket that matched all six numbers in the Powerball drawing worth $429.6 million was sold in Mercer County.
Family spokeswoman Valerie Arthur said she couldn’t believe it when her sister called to deliver the news.
“I don’t know about you, but if I had a $520 million ticket in my back pocket, I probably wouldn’t be sitting on it”, said Traverso, adding that he’s concerned the person who bought the ticket doesn’t know it’s a victor. The winning ticket was sold in Trenton, N.J. “Your age factor comes in and you think, ‘Am I going to wait around 20 years for the cash?’ If I was 20 maybe but I’m well past 20”.
Another sister, Katherine Nunnally of Newark, said she planned to use a portion of her winnings to fund a mentoring program for at-risk women.
“We don’t often have the occasion to increase a Cash 5 jackpot after it’s already rolled, so this is very good news for our players”, said Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko.
Powerball is offered in 44 States, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. But he won $2 – enough to pay for his coffee.
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This article contains information from the Associated Press.
