Winner Of The Biggest Lottery Jackpot In US History Stays Anonymous And Donates A Chunk Of It To Charities

August 6, 2019

A lucky woman in South Carolina, US, won the biggest Mega Millions jackpot ever in the history of the United States, and is now sharing a good sum out of her newfound wealth of $ 1.5 billion, with multiple charities.

She has chosen to stay anonymous and has figured out a bunch of South Carolina charities including Tornado Relief Fund of Alabama Red Cross to make her contributions.

Her lawyer Jason Kurland revealed that she chose to make a significant donation as she had claimed the winnings while the tornado had struck Alabama early in March this year.

A mutual decision to stay anonymous

Talking to CNN, Jason said that his client felt a little strange that as they were having a grand event of her claiming the winnings while there were people suffering everywhere. The winning lady isn't keen on announcing the exact amount of donations to these charities.

They took this decision mutually after discussion with these charities and agreed that it would be in the best interest of everyone to not announce the sum. On the other hand, they chose to announce the name of a charities just to spread awareness around them.

Some of the organisations that these donations were made to are:

- One SC Fund for Hurricane Florence relief

- In The Middle, a charitable organisation focused on helping women suffering from breast cancer

- Ronald McDonald House of Charities of Columbia, South Carolina

- American Red Cross Alabama Region - Tornado Relief Fund

- The City of Simpsonville Art Centre

Releasing a statement to the press, through her lawyer, the winner expressed her feeling of joy stating that words aren't enough to describe the feeling of being endowed with such incredible luck. She further emphasised that such big good fortune also comes with a great deal of social responsibility and she is now in a position to contribute to, support and assist the causes and charities which are close to her heart.

Carried out comprehensive research prior to claiming the prize

The winner who had won the $ 1.5 billion jackpot through a random number decided to take the one-time cash payment option of close to $ 878 million, making her the recipient of the biggest single winner jackpot pay out in the United States history. Her winning numbers 5, 28, 62, 65 and 70 along with a Mega Ball of 5 were actually announced on October 23, 2018 but no one came forward to claim the prize until she did on March 5, 2019.

She spent all that time researching professionals who could help her preserve her anonymity and advise her on managing her new fortune. The decision to stay anonymous has been mainly for her own safety. South Carolina is amongst the few United States that allow the lottery winners to not reveal their identity. An earlier statement released by the lottery revealed that the woman actually had the computer pick up the numbers for her, and she had let someone else go in front of her in the queue, to purchase their tickets first.