Washington caregiver wins $50,000 Powerball prize

A Washington State resident who has spent seven days a week for the past two years taking care of her dear patients now has a chance for some self-care.

The Seattle caregiver recently won a $50,000 Powerball prize. The winner loves her career as a caregiver because although it can be challenging at times, ensuring the health and safety of her patients is very rewarding because she knows she's adding to the quality of these people's lives.

As she does every week, she stopped to purchase a Powerball ticket from the lottery vending machine at her local Fred Meyer located at 100 NW 85th Street in Greenwood. Little did she know that some good karma would be coming her way and her life was about to be changed. She put the tickets into her jacket pocket and didn't remember to check them until a few days later when she returned to Fred Meyer to pick up some groceries.

She scanned her first ticket, but it was not a winner. As she scanned the second ticket, the words “See Lottery Office” lit up the lottery terminal screen. She was amazed to find out that she had just won a $50,000 Powerball prize after matching four of the five white balls and the red Powerball. The winning numbers for the drawing were 30, 36, 49, 52, 63, and Powerball number 16.

In an interview with Washington Lottery officials, she said:

I just didn't get around to checking.

The winner was still in shock when she shared her good news with one of her clients and later called her mother and sisters living in Mexico. The winner plans to use her prize money to pay off her business, help an animal welfare organization, and continue to support family members in Mexico.

Washington State's big Powerball wins

Though Washington State may not feature often in lottery news circles, it has a big Powerball winner in its lottery history. On February 6, 2023, Auburn resident Bucky Bell hit a hit $747 million Powerball jackpot.

A Supply Chain Analyst for The Boeing Company in Auburn, Bucky was inspired to buy a lottery ticket while grocery shopping when she saw the jackpot amount. She felt it was an auspicious number, considering that just six days earlier, her company had delivered its last 747 jumbo jet.

Her hunch paid off, and she was the only player to win the then fifth-largest jackpot in Powerball history and the largest ever won in Washington State. The winning numbers for that drawing were 5, 11, 22, 23, 69, and Powerball number 7.

In an interview with Washington Lottery officials, Bucky said:

I've never won more than $20 in my life, so you can imagine my shock when I realized what had just happened. I just broke down and cried.

How the lottery helps Washington State

The Washington State Lottery was launched in 1982. Since then, it has generated more than $5.3 billion to support multiple state programs, including the Washington Opportunity Pathways Account (WOPA). These funds provide resources for early childhood education and college students and apprentices.