Woman Finds Box of Lottery Tickets, Almost Passed Out After Seeing Prize

A Virginia woman won a $100,000 lottery prize after finding a box of scratch-off tickets inside a closet.

Alfreda Hawkins was cleaning around her house in Richmond when she came upon the box of lottery tickets in one of her closets, according to a news release from Virginia Lottery officials.

So Hawkins took the tickets out and began scratching them — and one of them was a big winner.

The Richmond woman said she was stunned by her good fortune. “I almost passed out!” she told lottery officials. “It was amazing!” 

The lucky ticket scratched by Hawkins was for the $100,000 Extreme Cash game, according to lottery officials.

Hawkins had purchased the ticket at the Shop & Go on Mechanicsville Turnpike in Richmond, though it’s unclear when the ticket was purchased.

The $100,000 Extreme Cash game is now being closed after Hawkins won its third and final grand prize. 

The odds of winning the top prize in the $100,000 Extreme Cash were 1 in 1,101,600, according to lottery officials.

Hawkins claimed her winnings on Sept. 12. She told lottery officials that she has no immediate plans for how she plans to utilize her newfound fortune.

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Profits from all Virginia Lottery games go toward K-12 education in Virginia, lottery officials said.

Richmond, where Hawkins lives, received more than $22.5 million in Lottery funds for K-12 education last in the last fiscal year, they added.

If you or someone you know is struggling with a gambling problem, please contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline Network at 1-800-522-4700 or go to gamtalk.org.