ATLANTA – A retired Columbus postal clerk has tapped a big win from the Georgia Lottery. James Ezekiel, 70, won a $50,000 top prize playing the popular instant game Jumbo Bucks Classic.
Ezekiel purchased the lucky ticket and claimed his prize Monday at the Georgia Lottery District Office in Columbus.
“I was in Publix, and I just bought some scratch offs,” he said. “It was just a hunch.”
Publix Super Market #1390, located at 3201 Macon Road in Columbus, sold the winning ticket, and Ezekiel scratched it in the store.
“I looked at (the ticket) two or three times to make sure it was the right number and in the right place,” he said.
Retired eight years as a clerk for the U.S. Postal Service, Ezekiel said he feels good about winning his prize.
He does not have immediate plans for his winnings.
Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $13.4 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 1.4 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.1 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.
For more information on the Georgia Lottery Corp., please visit:
www.galottery.com and www.lotterybenefitsgeorgians.com
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