Greenville woman to help homeless with $250,000 lottery prize

October 15, 2019 Posted by NC Lottery at 8:05 AM

Jessie Ellzy of Greenville said she’s always dreamed of giving someone a helping hand, and now she can after she won a $250,000 lottery prize.

“I told myself if I ever came into money, I’d pay it forward,” Ellzy said. “There are so many people who are worse off than I am. I’m going to make sure the homeless where I live have what they need for winter. It’s been a dream of mine to do this, and now I can.”

Ellzy’s good luck started Saturday when she stopped at Nic’s Pic Kwik on U.S. 401 South in Laurinburg and bought a $250,000 WIN IT ALL ticket. When she scratched the ticket, she couldn’t believe what she saw.

“I stared at it and thought, ‘That’s a lot of zeros,’” Ellzy said. “I started jumping up and down and hugging my daughter.”

Ellzy claimed her prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $176,876. In addition to helping the homeless, Ellzy plans to use the money to pay bills.

The $5 ticket launched with four top prizes of $250,000. Two top prizes remain.

Ticket sales from games like $250,000 WIN IT ALL make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.

22 COMMENTS

10/21/2019 11:45 - Tim M.

@SHEILA I, I know about as much as you do?

10/21/2019 07:08 - Sheila I.

@Tim M. Someone finally won on the $5 million Fortune ??. It wasn't me tho'??

10/18/2019 05:47 - Tim M.

OH DENVER! (Violin music playing). Always the philosopher. You pray to yours, I'll pray to mine. See you in the funny papers. Not!

10/18/2019 03:49 - Denver G.

"OH ARCHIE" it's a big world out there, full of many people. Many people of many religions & beliefs. We should not pass judgment on a man because of the color of his skin, the tone of his voice or the choice of his religion. Happy Holidays to everyone, no matter how, where or when you pray to YOUR spirit in the sky.

10/18/2019 12:36 - Tim M.

Hey LZ, those Christmas 2nd-Chance drawings sound great! Yes, Christmas, not Holidays. No 'PC' here. Anyway, reckon I can win if I slam these drawings?NC Lottery
We're calling it the "Holiday second-chance" drawing because entries will be open during the entire holiday season (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years), not just on Dec 25. :)

10/18/2019 10:38 - Joanna W. A.

I am so happy for her. It is a great blessing to help the less fortunate. If you continue blessing them, God will continue blessing you. Congratulations!!!!

10/17/2019 09:41 - Herman S.

Hello NCEL-LZ, any details on the upcoming Christmas tickets and promotions/second chance drawings for the Christmas holidays? Are you releasing the Jingle Bells-Christmas tickets in November? NC Lottery
Good morning Herman, We are excited to unveil five new holiday tickets on Nov. 5! We do not have a Jingle Bells ticket this year. The tickets will be $1-$10 with top prizes ranging from $5,000 to $150,000. The $10 ticket is a special holiday edition of our popular "$50 or $100" game with over 280,000 prizes of $50 or $100 packed into the game. All five of the tickets will be eligible to enter the holiday second-chance promotion. The holiday second-chance promotion will consist of two drawings and in each drawing, one winner will win $50,000, five will win $10,000 and 50 will win $500. Having that extra cash would certainly make holiday shopping a lot more enjoyable, don't you think? :)

10/17/2019 02:57 - Michael R.

Where did the Cash 5 winner come from last night? It doesnt say it on the Cash 5 game infoNC Lottery
It was won by one of our online players!

10/17/2019 12:51 - Tim M.

I kinda like Tamela's suggestion too and it's an idea that might need to be tinkered with to get the right mix. For example, I LOVE to get gift cards but if you have open drawings, I still want the option to enter them. I wouldn't want it to be either/or. Another option could be to redeem points for lottery tickets, probably scratch-offs but that would be for you to decide if it also includes draw games. Perhaps that way some of us who can't afford $20 and $30 tickets could get them. Another suggestion, probably unrelated, is to have a Black Friday promotion. Actually thought of that while typing the other. Don't know how that would work and probably too short notice to get it in this year. Or is it? Maybe the weekly drawing? Just a thought. NC Lottery
Lots of great ideas, Tim. We'll be sure to pass them along.

10/17/2019 10:38 - Gary C.

Building on the ideas below, I like the idea of getting so many Lucky Reward points like 5,000 for example to be able to get tickets into a special drawing for elite players.

10/17/2019 07:54 - Sarah B.

@TAMELA W.: We love that idea, thank you for sharing it with us! We have lots of big plans for the future of our Lucke-Rewards program, and we will be sure to pass your suggestion along to the folks in charge of creating our promotions.

10/16/2019 08:34 - Tamela W.

Congrats! I have a comment/suggestion...not sure where to put it... but has the lottery thought about... instead of people using their tickets for points to enter a contest that the odds of winning are so great and so few win...they could save them up to get gift cards with...like how some reward programs do and some credit cards do. Like give so many points per ticket and they save up to get a 10.00, 20.00 or more depending on how long they save their points to a restaurant, amazon or something like that. It shouldn’t cost as much as the second chance drawings and everyone could save up to get gift cards. I’m not sure if the law will allow this, and I know the lottery is all about taking chances, but if people had something to work toward... they might stop complaining so much about not winning. Just an idea. ??NC Lottery
Hi Tamela, We replied to your comment above.

10/16/2019 11:11 - Tim M.

Before someone might think I'm not compassionate or whatever, that's not the case. You know all those charities you see on TV? Shriner's for Children, St. Jude's Children's Hospital, Wounded Warriors, and ASPCA for the kitties and doggies? Each one is only $19 per month. My wife and I would love to donate to ALL of them but that's $76 per month and we can't even afford to donate to just one of them! Not unless something changes in our budget. IF I win, it's HONEST to say that the ones I'm going to take care of first is US. I'm tired of suffering financially so first things first, then worry later about other things.

10/16/2019 05:50 - Si S.

How important this is to empathize with one another within the realms of our families, professional positions, as well as our communities and to in some way feel obligated to share the wonderful gift of being a selfless individual to another. And, as a strong open minded woman, being culturally diverse and a compassionate single mother, I know that no matter our struggles throughout life, We are all responsible for one another-no matter our differences.....AND should know that we can make effort to share this positive change TOGETHER- whether rich or poor. THE KEY: FOR US TO PASS THESE VERY CORE MORALS TO OUR YOUTH FOR ALL GENERATIONS TO COME....

10/15/2019 08:55 - stan m.

Bless you for helping the homeless most people would just keep the money for themselves. Homeless and anyone else who needs help is a big problem in todays society. Here in Hickory it is a massive problem. Best of luck.

10/15/2019 06:16 - Tim M.

Ya know, this game has to be a new record for me. I still haven't won a single dollar on this! Now, I actually have bought some tickets but not a lot. I tried different tickets. I even tried different stores, even different towns. Nada, zilch! I couldn't even win on this when I found extra tickets that apparently the clerk gave me extra by mistake. I even found an UNSCRATCHED $10 ticket in the trash. ALL WERE DUDS! You'd think, hey! I should've at least won some break-even prizes but no such luck. This makes little sense because usually when a new game comes out, I at least win SOMETHING. What a crock!

10/15/2019 05:27 - Charise G.

Richard C. I'm glad the photo is not required. I also wish the full name was not...maybe just first name and first initial for the last, ie Jessie E. When I win big, I will not be taking a photo :)

10/15/2019 04:21 - Richard C.

Is this a real person,no picture!!!!!NC Lottery
Hi Richard, By law, we are only required to share the winner's name, hometown, game played, and amount won. Some winners choose to share their story of good luck, but not everyone is interested in that. And we love it when our big winners choose to celebrate by taking a photo, but we don't require it. :)

10/15/2019 02:37 - Douglas H.

Wonderful Jessie. The world needs more people like you:-). Bless you!!!

10/15/2019 08:47 - Gloria C.

CONGRADULATIONS TO YOU ! It is so very nice of you to help out to the homeless or to anyone who need help. I wish everyone who win big would think to give to those who really need help.I would do the same when I win big .Help those who need it the most.

10/15/2019 08:25 - Denver G.

Very nice indeed. Congrats Jessie. Hey LZ, I saw another Big Spin has been won. Care to share a little 411 ?NC Lottery
Good catch! We met with our second Big Spin winner yesterday. Their live spin event is scheduled for Nov. 5, so we will be sharing the full details on that event soon!

10/15/2019 08:21 - Brenda S.

Happy for you.

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Greenville woman to help homeless with $250,000 lottery prize

October 15, 2019 Posted by NC Lottery at 8:05 AM