Montgomery County resident Ethel Young shared with Maryland Lottery officials that she plans to donate a portion of her recent $5,000 winnings to her church. She won the prize in August through the lottery’s Cash Heatwave promotion. Full story below, courtesy of MD Lottery:
Temperatures were brutal this summer as Maryland was hit with multiple heatwaves. But the dog days of summer weren’t bad for everyone, as the high temperatures led to big prize payouts for 20 lucky winners in the Maryland Lottery’s Cash Heatwave promotion.
With the limited-time second-chance promotion, the hotter the weather, the higher the prize amounts rose. A total of $125,000 was awarded throughout the promotion.
Sandy Spring resident Ethel Young was selected as one of the winners for the week of Aug. 19 to Aug. 25 drawing. During that week, the high temperature reached 88 degrees – enough to win the retired federal worker a $5,000 prize!
Ethel purchased a few Pick game tickets and entered those tickets into her My Lottery Rewards account, hoping to earn Rewards points. She was surprised to find that she had also been automatically entered into the second-chance promotion.
According to the Montgomery County resident, her friends are loyal Lottery players and had created My Lottery Rewards accounts years ago. Although Ethel is a casual player, her friends talked her into creating an account. She said her friends have won small non-cash prizes, but she is the first one in the group to win cash.
“None of my friends have won this much,” Ethel said with a smile. She plans to use the money for home repairs and will donate some of the prize to her church.