2017 Press Releases

Trip to the Grocery Store Turns Into $15,000 Lottery Win for Lewes Woman

DOVER, Del— When Marcia Love headed to her local Giant on Route 24 in Long Neck, Delaware, she wasn’t expecting to fill her cart with a $15,000-winning Extra Funds Instant Game ticket from the Delaware Lottery. Love, a 61-year- old single retiree and loyal Lottery player, has always hoped she would win a momentous prize one day, and to her surprise it happened when she least expected it.

“I was about to head home from Giant when I thought maybe I should just go ahead and scratch my tickets,” said Love, who is originally from Maryland but relocated to Angola, Delaware in 1999. “I purchased four Instant Game tickets—two Extra Funds and two 25 Grand—and it wasn’t until I got to my last ticket that I realized I was a winner.”

Love regularly plays LUCKY FOR LIFE ® , PLAY 3 and a variety of Instant Games. On occasion, she gets in on POWERBALL ® and MEGA MILLIONS ® when the jackpots get high. For as long as she can remember, her mom would play—and hit on—her hospital room number, so it’s meaningful to use those three numbers when playing PLAY 3.

“I always thought if you don’t play, you can’t win,” said Love. “It’s gotta be the entertainer in me, because I really love the excitement of the game.”

Love became a mini celebrity in the Giant that day. A little crowd formed around the counter where the ticket was sold, as employees and customers congratulated her. Since Love is at the Giant so often, she has become friendly with an employee behind the counter, who would regularly scan her Lottery tickets. It was only natural that Love told the woman the exciting news. “She was so happy for me and even started crying when I showed her the ticket,” said Love.

While the community at Giant showed “love” to Love, she was even more thrilled to share the win with her daughter. Love told Lottery officials that she plans to use her prize money to help her daughter pay for a memorial for her recently passed son-in- law.

“My daughter was stressing over how she was going to pay for the memorial, and the first thing I told her was to not worry about it—it’s taken care of. The money couldn’t have come at a better time for my family,” Love added.

She claimed her $15,000 prize at Lottery Headquarters on Thursday, July 20.

Since the start of operations in 1975, the Delaware Lottery has contributed more than $4.7 billion to the state’s General Fund to help finance needed state services that benefit everyone in Delaware. The Lottery offers a variety of games: POWERBALL®, MEGA MILLIONS®, HOT LOTTO®, MULTI-WIN LOTTO, LUCKY FOR LIFE®, PLAY 3, PLAY 4, Keno®, iGaming and assorted Instant Games, Video Lottery, Sports Lottery and Table Games. Delaware Lottery game and promotional details are available at delottery.com, at licensed locations, and from the Lottery’s office in Dover.

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