$80,000 lottery ticket dropped in church collection plate

Aug 31, 2011, 8:38 am (35 comments)

Georgia Lottery

COLUMBUS, Ga. — Jerry's Mart convenient store is often referred to as "the lucky store," Manager Junior Patel said.

The walls are plastered with winning tickets, the highest totaling $750,000 and soon another will be added. One lucky person picked up a $3 Lemon Doubler Cashword ticket and was fortunate enough to scratch off $80,000 what they did next was even more unbelievable.

The unknown winner placed the winning ticket in the collection plate at Cathedral of Prayer Church in Columbus, donating every penny of the cash earnings to the church.

"The money is going towards the church and we have to supply the food for the neighborhood, the clothing, everything costs and we give this stuff away free," says Alfonzo Riggins.

Riggins has been attending cathedral of prayer church for the past 15 years, He also handles security for the pastor and first lady of the church.

He says he has already received criticisms from people in the community about the church accepting the money.

"God said a blessing is a blessing you know, no one at the church played the lottery so it had to be an outsider that came in and did this," Riggins said.

Gloria Rodgers, chief financial officer of Cathedral of Prayer, spoke on behalf of the church, claiming the prize Aug. 26 at the Georgia Lottery's Columbus District Office.

"It's an excellent thing," she said. "People in the community have come by and put lottery winnings in the offering through the years."

The $80,000 prize is by far the largest they've received.

"When we saw this, we didn't know," Rodgers added.

According to Rodgers, burglars stripped the air conditioning unit of its copper three weeks ago, leaving the edifice without cool air. The anonymous donation will go toward fixing the unit.

"Everybody is just thrilled," she said. "We're thankful."

Church members leaving Bible study had no idea about the huge donation their church had gotten but agreed that it was in fact a gift from above.

"Everything comes from God, everything is a blessing however we received it, and it's a blessing I'm not telling anybody to go out and gamble but however God gave it to you then receives it as that," Riggins said. "I haven't found out yet and I'm not going to ask that question unless it's given to me as a direct order to figure out where it came from."

For now this church's $80,000 blessing will for now remain a mystery.

WSFA, WAFB, Lottery Post Staff

Comments

luckyshoes's avatarluckyshoes

Thats a very nice story. I hope it made the person feel really good doing it.

sully16's avatarsully16

What a wonderful thing to do, nice story.

surimaribo24's avatarsurimaribo24

great hearted person . god bless him . it takes a lot for a person to do something big like that .

heads off and respect for the player .

rdgrnr's avatarrdgrnr

Manager Junior Patel?

This is deja vu all over again.

And his first name is "Junior"? That's a hillbilly name! Hell, half the ol' boys on my mountain are named Junior. I wonder if he has a brother named Bubba Patel? Well, I guess it's a better name than Harddik Patel from another news story. He was notable. Harddik really stuck out.

surimaribo24's avatarsurimaribo24

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Aug 31, 2011

Manager Junior Patel?

This is deja vu all over again.

And his first name is "Junior"? That's a hillbilly name! Hell, half the ol' boys on my mountain are named Junior. I wonder if he has a brother named Bubba Patel? Well, I guess it's a better name than Harddik Patel from another news story. He was notable. Harddik really stuck out.

ooo my rd you made me fall of ma chair . this is a good one hillbilly hahahah a.  another patel oo boy . this one has lots of winning tickets hanging soo hope its not theirs hahaha buba patel lol

Raven62's avatarRaven62

Quote: Originally posted by sully16 on Aug 31, 2011

What a wonderful thing to do, nice story.

The person knows they can't take it with them: So they are sending it on ahead!

cbr$'s avatarcbr$

Blue AngelI agree this is in deed a wonderful story may God continue to bless that church and the anonymous donor something is telling me that he or she belives in tithing whole heartly

Raven62's avatarRaven62

Quote: Originally posted by cbr$ on Aug 31, 2011

Blue AngelI agree this is in deed a wonderful story may God continue to bless that church and the anonymous donor something is telling me that he or she belives in tithing whole heartly

Times 10! Thumbs Up

happygirl665's avatarhappygirl665

This is a nice story and I definately would have given money but not sure if I would have given the whole amount. Perhaps the the 10 percent that is required according the bible..

Raven62's avatarRaven62

Quote: Originally posted by happygirl665 on Aug 31, 2011

This is a nice story and I definately would have given money but not sure if I would have given the whole amount. Perhaps the the 10 percent that is required according the bible..

Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide! Thumbs Up

Raven62's avatarRaven62

Quote: Originally posted by rdgrnr on Aug 31, 2011

Manager Junior Patel?

This is deja vu all over again.

And his first name is "Junior"? That's a hillbilly name! Hell, half the ol' boys on my mountain are named Junior. I wonder if he has a brother named Bubba Patel? Well, I guess it's a better name than Harddik Patel from another news story. He was notable. Harddik really stuck out.

He may be consanguineous to you! Thumbs Up

TheRightPrice

What a great story. But on the other hand I could use that cash as well to pay bills

Justwinbaby

If a person is already blessed then giving the money away seems to be the right thing to do. I know when I win the lottery if I won something else then I would be inclined to give most if not all of it away. To whom much is given much is also required. And there's a blessing in being able to see beyond self to provide favor to someone else. I pray that God pours back into the spirit of the person who gave up his/her ticket to help this church.

time*treat's avatartime*treat

The lucky winner was also clever enough to not take it back to the store for Mr. Patel Red Devil to have a peek at.

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