Stephanie Israel plans to use her lottery winnings to invest in her family’s businesses, she told NC lottery officials.
Photo by Giorgio Trovato via Unsplash
Stephanie Israel was lying in bed late on Saturday, Oct. 8 when she got a strong urge to buy a lottery ticket.
“The spirit just told me to go online and buy one,” she told North Carolina lottery officials, according to an Oct. 11 news release. “There was only four minutes left until the drawing.”
So, the 39-year-old mom from Browns Summit got online and bought a Quick Pick ticket on the lottery’s website. On Sunday morning, Israel checked her email, she told lottery officials.
There was a notification that her ticket had won Saturday’s Cash 5 drawing, according to officials.
“I screamed for like 20 minutes,” she told officials. “I think I scared my family a little bit.”
Israel’s ticket had won her $501,544, officials said. After federal and state taxes, officials say Israel took home $356,147.
Now, Israel plans to invest her winnings into her family’s businesses, she told officials.
“We are constantly thinking of new ideas for businesses,” Israel said. “Our boys already have a landscaping business.”
Browns Summit is about 12 miles northeast of Greensboro.
Moira Ritter covers real-time news for McClatchy. She is a graduate of Georgetown University where she studied government, journalism and German. Previously, she reported for CNN Business.
