Powerball winner donates chunk to veterans!

Powerball winner donates $500,000 to veterans charity

7 News Miami
November 16, 2018

(WSVN) - A woman who won half of the $687 million Powerball is donating half a million dollars to a veterans charity.

Lerynne West, 51, made an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show where she told the story of how she won the lottery and how she set up The Callum Foundation with her winnings.

West said the foundation was named after her grandson, Callum, who was born prematurely and only lived for a day. The organization’s website says it focuses its grantmaking on several areas, including poverty, hunger, education, animal welfare and veteran affairs.

“I have a responsibility to do good for other people and to help other people out as well,” West told DeGeneres.

West also announced that she will be donating $500,000 to the Travis Mills Foundation through her organization. The Travis Mills Foundation helps wounded and injured veterans and their families.

West said veteran affairs has always been something she cared about, especially with her father and brothers all having served in the military.

West was one of two winners who split the $687 million jackpot for a total of $343.9. According to CNN, she opted to take the lump sum option of $198.1 million.
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Katrina took away house, gallon of milk gave 97 million reasons to smile

Man who lost homes in Katrina claims $97M Powerball prize

Published Friday, May 9, 2008 at 7 a.m.

BATON ROUGE, La. — A construction company owner who lost two homes in Hurricane Katrina claimed a $97 million Powerball prize, a jackpot won off a ticket he bought at a convenience store where he stopped to buy his wife a gallon of milk.

When he turned in the winning ticket, Carl Hunter became the largest Powerball winner in Louisiana's history. He won the jackpot in January, but the 73-year-old small businessman waited nearly four months to claim the prize.

An avid lottery player, Hunter said he already had bought a Powerball ticket on Jan. 16 at the gas station less than two blocks from his home in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie. But he stopped at the station again that day to buy milk - at the request of his wife, Dianne - and got a second "quick pick" ticket.

"I had some change, and one dollar was used to buy this ticket," Hunter said Thursday at the Louisiana Lottery Corp. headquarters in Baton Rouge, where he claimed his prize.
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http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080509/APA/805090585