CP Lottery

From Disability Scoop:
"Lottery Winner Hopes To Boost Cerebral Palsy Awareness"

Marie Holmes of Shallotte, N.C. is about $88 million richer after claiming her Powerball prize Monday in Raleigh. Her $188 million winning ticket was sold Feb. 11 at a local Scotchman convenience store. After consulting with her attorney, Holmes opted for the $127 million lump sum payment, for an after-tax winning of $87.9 million. At a press conference Monday afternoon at the North Carolina Education Lottery headquarters, Holmes, a single mother of four, said she is grateful for the opportunities the win has created for her family. “This is gonna make a huge difference for them,” she said speaking about her children. “They are going to live a comfortable life without struggling. Anything my kids ask for, I can get it for them.” Until recently, Holmes said she supported her family by working jobs at Wal-Mart, Food Lion, KFC, McDonald’s and Subway. While Holmes said she has not fully processed the win just yet, she said the jackpot will not change her as a person. She said with the money she wants to finish her college degree in nursing and hopes to travel, having never been outside the United States. Holmes also plans to tithe at church and charitable organizations for cerebral palsy, a disorder her 7-year-old son has. “I hope that this moment can shine a light on the challenges faced by children and adults with cerebral palsy,” Holmes said. “Not everyone understands what cerebral palsy is, and what it means to a family. I hope our story can help change that.” Holmes becomes the largest jackpot winner in North Carolina history. Her win eclipses the previous jackpot record-holder Frank Griffin, a retired firefighter from Asheville who held a $141.4 million winning Powerball ticket in February 2010.

^ Even though she is doing this because she has a personal connection to cerebral palsy (ie her son) it is still a good way to bring awareness to both cp and to the charities and organizations that work with people who have it. I worked at an overnight summer camp for 4 summers during college that had a name whose initials were cp because when the camp first started in the 1960s it only dealt with people with cerebral palsy and today it takes in people with all sorts of disabilities.  ^

http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2015/02/24/lottery-cerebral-palsy/20084/