Tuesday
Nov132012
Chicago Worker Helping Out with Superstorm Sandy Recovery Wins Big with the New Jersey Lottery
Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at 02:10PM TRENTON– (Nov. 9, 2012) – John Turner, a water mitigation and restoration technician for National Catastrophe Solutions of Chicago, traveled to the East Coast on Oct. 30 to help in the cleanup from Superstorm Sandy. After working on water damaged areas in New York City, he and his co-workers headed to the New Jersey towns of Point Pleasant, Toms River and Bay Head on Nov. 1.
To unwind after their long days of water extraction, drywall and debris removal services, he and his associates played some NJ Lottery instant games. Turner’s Nov. 4 purchase of a Championship Poker ticket proved to be a Jersey Shore souvenir that he won’t soon forget – it gave him a $100,000 win.
“I showed the card to my buddies, and we all couldn’t believe it. We started asking the people around us in the pizzeria, and they all said it was a winner,” Turner said. “I was overjoyed and had tears in my eyes. I’m still just trying to take it all in.” He plans to use the winnings to pay off some bills and perhaps buy an investment property around Chicago. John’s lucky retailer was Plaza Convenience & Deli, 2459 Highway 33, Neptune.
Turner, who is 38, is no stranger to New Jersey. He was born in Newark and at the age of 4, he and his mother moved south to Atlanta. In recent years, his business has brought him back to New Jersey many times to help out with post-storm cleanups, including those from Hurricane Irene and various Nor’easters.
“New Jersey is an exciting place to live, work and visit,” says Carole Hedinger, Executive Director of the Lottery. “We are very grateful that John has given his time and skills to help the people dealing with the challenges brought on by Sandy and that New Jersey is giving a memorable thank you back to him.”
The NJ Lottery has a wide assortment of entertaining instant games ranging in price from $1 up to $10 with top prizes of up to $1 million. Players won nearly $945 million playing NJ Lottery instant games in fiscal year 2012 alone.
The NJ Lottery also gives players a second chance to win on their non-winning instant game tickets with the Million Dollar Replay program. There are 15 top prizes ranging in value from $10,000 up to the $1 million grand prize. Throughout the year, four semifinalist drawings are held where 100 entrants are chosen as finalists in the grand prize drawing. Visit the NJ Lottery website to register for our VIP Club and instructions on how to enter the Million Dollar Replay program.