50,000 reasons to faint

Jan. 15, 2021 – Salem, Ore. – When most people stop on the way to work, they pick up coffee, tea or a soda. Diana C. of Salem decided to pick up something a little more substantial, a $50,000 Powerball prize. 

“I normally don’t buy tickets,” Diana said when she claimed her prize, “but I saw that the jackpots were so big, I decided to get $10 of Powerball.” 

Thursday morning, back at work at the Marion County Juvenile Department, she noticed the ticket in her purse and decided to check the numbers. 

“I saw I hit the Powerball, so I knew I won some money,” she said. “When I looked at the other numbers, I almost fainted. I’m not going to lie.” 

She couldn’t contain her excitement and decided to share the news with some co-workers, and then called to make her appointment to claim that prize at the Oregon Lottery that same day. She had hit four out of five numbers and the Powerball on her quick pick ticket.  

“I am going to play some more, the big prize is still out there,” she said. “I am going to use this to pay off some bills and it’s nice to have that peace of mind.” 

Saturday’s Powerball drawing is an estimated $640 million, which would be a $478.7 million cash value. If won, it will be the fifth largest jackpot in Powerball game history and the ninth largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history. This is the highest the Powerball jackpot has been since March 2019, and it’s causing an increase in sales in lottery tickets all around Oregon. 

Diana purchased her winning ticket at the US Market on Cherry Avenue in Keizer. Sam Singh, owner of the store, said that as the jackpots for both Powerball and Mega Millions have been growing, he has seen more and more customers add lottery tickets to their purchases. 

“It’s always this way when the jackpots get this big,” he said. “Having a winner like this will help sales because they think it could happen to them.” 

Before Diana’s $50,000 win, Singh said the biggest winning ticket he had sold was in the $30,000 to $40,000 range. 

“This is very exciting and I feel great,” he said. “We hope to sell more, and even the big one. My advice to players is to buy more tickets. As much as you play, it increases your chances to win.” 

Since the Oregon Lottery began selling tickets on April 25, 1985, it has earned more than $12 billion for economic development, public education, Outdoor School, state parks, Veteran Services and watershed enhancements. For more information on the Oregon Lottery visit www.oregonlottery.org 

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