Is This Single, Struggling Mom The Most Deserving $188 Million Powerball Jackpot Winner Ever? Tweetdom Decides
Marie Holmes, 26, (l), one of three winners of the Feb 2015 Powerball $564.1 million jackpot.
A North Carolina woman with four children, who recently quit her jobs at Walmart and McDonalds to care for her family, is one of the winners of the third-share $188 million Powerball jackpot payout.
Marie Holmes' deserving win and down to earth attitude has got her mostly sympathy from Tweeters. Here are some examples:
"I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I saw the ticket and checked it," Holmes explained with a noticeable grin.
The mother of four said she screamed after the winning numbers were drawn Wednesday night and ran and told her kids. "They said I scared them," Holmes joked.
Holmes previously worked at McDonald’s and Wal-Mart, but quit her jobs to take care of her four children, one of whom suffers from cerebral palsy, according to NBC News.
She plans to use her winnings to eventually pay her children’s college tuition and to purchase a house and car. She will also donate some of the money to her church.
"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.
Three tickets matched the winning numbers 11, 13, 25, 39, 54 and 19. The other two were bought in Texas and Puerto Rico, but those winners have not stepped forward.
Each winner can take either a $188 million annuity paid over 30 years or a $127 million lump sum before state and federal taxes.
The winning Powerball ticket was bought at this Scotchman gas station in Shallotte, NC.
The mom of four told local media she plans to disappear while she consults with lawyers and financial advisers.
She said she plans to donate some of the funds to her church, but her children will come first.
Holmes explained she wished her grandma was still alive to share in the fortune but grateful she can splurge on her kids.
"Everything is for them. All the struggles that I went through, it was all for them," she told WECT.
Holmes said she doesn’t want the jackpot to change her kids.
"I just want them to understand that money doesn’t change you. It can help you," she added.