Powerball Jackpot Winner Pledges Tithe: Jobless N.C. Mom One of 3 Winners of $564 Million, Vows Church Donation
An unemployed mother who came forward to say that she's one of the three winners of North Carolina's $564-million Powerball jackpot is sharing her blessing by donating money to her church.
Marie Holmes, 26, from the town of Shallotte in Brunswick, North Carolina, said she also plans to buy a house for her kids.
Two other winning tickets were bought in Puerto Rico and Texas.
"First I'm gonna pay my tithes because I wouldn't have none of it if it weren't for God," she told WECT in North Carolina.
A mother of four kids including one with cerebral palsy, Holmes is overwhelmed and "very grateful" for her winning, saying that she didn't regularly buy lottery tickets.
"I only buy when I can," she said.
The N.C. Education Lottery tweeted that the "$188 million #Powerball ticket was sold in Brunswick County at the Scotchman on Whiteville Road in Shallotte."
Holmes said she scared her kids when she told them that she won. "I was telling my kids that we had to struggle no more and I was yelling when I did it. I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I saw the ticket and I actually checked it," she said.
When asked how did she feel about winning the jackpot, Holmes said, "I don't think it really hit me yet. I guess when it hits my account, that's when it's gonna hit me."
"I'm thankful that I can bless my kids something that I didn't have," she said.
Among her priorities are setting up funds for her kids and buy a house. "When we figure out where we're gonna live, I'll buy a house for me and my kids," she said.
Holmes added that she's ready for the big change that will soon come to her life. "I'm ready for it. I'm ready to embrace the change. I'm very grateful for what's about to happen for my family," she said.
Holmes was looking for a new job when she won the lottery. "I'm grateful. I'm very grateful," she said.
WECT quoted lottery officials as saying that an attorney representing the winner had contacted them and told them that the winner would not claim the prize anytime soon.
The winning numbers in the lottery were 11, 13, 25, 39 and 54, with the Powerball number being 19, the report added.
