Co-workers in Kentucky win lottery after boss gifts them scratch-offs for Christmas
A group of colleagues in Kentucky recently received an early Christmas gift – a $50,000 lottery win.
It reportedly began when Shelia Colter, a second shift supervisor at Med Center Health Environmental Services in Bowling Green, bought Christmas presents for her employees that didn't ship in time for gifting.
"Our work Christmas party was early this year. I had ordered some items online, but they didn’t come in before the party," Colter told the Kentucky Lottery.
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"So, I decided to get scratch-offs instead," she added.
Colter gifted her employees a variety of lower-priced tickets along with some $30 tickets that could be shared among the team, the Kentucky Lottery wrote in a recent press release.
The winnings have been split 21 ways, meaning each co-worker is receiving approximately $1,750 in earnings. (Credit: Kentucky Lottery / Fox News)
The $30 ticket set off a series of events that resulted in the purchase of another ticket which won big.
"From the $30 tickets, they won $50, so she [Colter] purchased a $50 Millionaire Club Scratch-off. That ticket won $100 so she purchased two more and one of them ended up winning the game’s second prize of $50,000," the release said.
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The co-workers kept on playing their luck and it paid off.
"We kept playing as a group. There are twenty-one of us," Colter said.
Shelia Colter (left) purchased her employees, including Winnie Beckman (right), a series of lottery tickets that resulted in a prize of $50,000. (Credit: Kentucky Lottery / Fox News)
"I would stop on the way to work, and we kept winning," she added.
The retailer, IGA Express on US 31 W Bypass in Bowling Green, will receive a bonus of $500 for selling the winning ticket, lottery officials noted.
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Colter and another employee, Winnie Beckman, visited the Kentucky Lottery headquarters to collect the prize.
Beckman was already headed to Louisville to take her citizen test — which she passed, the Kentucky Lottery reported.
Colter purchased two $50 Millionaire Club Scratch-off tickets and one of them ended up being a prize-winning ticket. (Credit: Kentucky Lottery / Fox News)
Colter and Beckman walked away with a check for $35,750 after taxes, which will be split 21 ways or approximately $1,750 per person.
Colter plans on using her portion of her winnings to go towards buying Christmas presents that still need to be purchased.
"It means a lot. This is going to help a lot of people," she told the lottery board.
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Beckman's mother was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, so she will use her earnings to go towards her mother's care.
"I’m going to use it for my mom’s medicine," Beckman said in a statement shared with the Kentucky Lottery.
"This will help a lot. And I will never forget this," Beckman added.