Retired Marine Plans to Share Lottery Prize with Community: ‘We Want to Pay It Forward’

A retired Marine in New Bern, North Carolina, is planning to use her recent lottery winnings to help people living in the area.

Christi Davis said she wants to share some of her $500,000 prize money with her neighbors, the News & Observer reported Monday.

“It’s been a hard year for everyone,” she said. “We want to pay it forward to some people and some organizations around town.”

Many North Carolinians have experienced financial strain since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, so Davis was overwhelmed when she won the recent Powerball game.

“Her good luck started last Saturday night about 8 p.m. when she realized she did not have a ticket for that night’s Powerball drawing. She took out her smartphone and used her NC Lottery Official Mobile App to get a $3 Power Play ticket,” the NC Education Lottery said Saturday.

Davis’s Quick Pick ticket matched four white balls and the Powerball and won her $50,000. However, because she also bought a Power Play ticket, the prize increased to $500,000 when the ten times multiplier was drawn.

“I feel like I am in a dream,” said the retired Marine, who served the nation for 22 years. “I think I am still trying to accept it.”

She ultimately took home $353,751 after state and federal tax withholdings, saying she hoped to take her whole family on vacation.

“Her ticket was one of three bought in North Carolina that matched four white balls and the Powerball in last Saturday’s drawing. The odds of that are 1 in 913,129,” the lottery’s website read.

In November, elderly Florida man Albert Pike was struggling to take care of his family and got a huge surprise when he won $1 million on a scratch-off ticket, Breitbart News reported.

Albert Pike ended up taking a one-time lump sum payout of $790,000.

“When I got home and saw the winning numbers, I couldn’t believe it. I knew right then that I wouldn’t have to worry about how to pay for the things we need,” he stated.

Yesterday, Ernesto Sorzano also won $500,o0o from the North Carolina Powerball by using his fortune cookie numbers on the ticket.