THOMASTON WOMAN WINS $50,000 FROM GA. LOTTERY

Thomaston woman wins $50K prize playing Jumbo Bucks Classic  

                                              

ATLANTA – Christmas may have come early for Moneika Brownlee of Thomaston. Brownlee won a $50,000 prize Monday playing the Georgia Lottery instant ticket game Jumbo Bucks Classic.

Cook’s Market, 211 S. Center St. in Thomaston, sold the ticket.

Brownlee, 27, said that she purchased two Jumbo Bucks Classic scratchers and wound up winning a prize after scratching the first.

“Something told me to get two,” she said. “I didn’t expect to win on the first try.”

After realizing she had a winning ticket, Brownlee said that she immediately called her mother to tell her the news.

“She was shocked but happy,” she said. “I still can’t believe it, but I’m grateful.”

Brownlee, a forklift operator and part-time student, plans to use her winnings to purchase a new car and pay bills.

The lucky winner claimed her prize at the Georgia Lottery Macon District Office Monday.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $17.8 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program. More than 1.7 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.4 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.