A North Carolina single mom of four children said Monday that her $188 million share of the Powerball jackpot from two weeks ago means she can give her kids what they need — but she will still tell them “no” despite the family’s financial windfall.
Marie Holmes, 26, from the coastal community of Shallotte, N.C., worked at various fast food chains and retailers to support her family of three girls and a son who suffers from cerebral palsy. That's now changed after she and two others picked all six numbers in the Feb. 11 drawing, earning Holmes one-third of the $564 million jackpot.
"This is going to make a huge difference for them," Holmes said of her children at a press conference. "They’re going to be able to live a comfortable life and not worry about struggling."
Holmes, who occasionally played the lottery, asked her mom to get her a Quick Pick ticket. She was still in disbelief on Monday that she had beaten odds of one in 175 million. She decided to take the lump sum payment, which means she will take home $87.9 million after taxes, the North Carolina Education Lottery said in a statement.
Holmes intends to use the money to buy her mom a home, a secure a financial future for her children and to make charitable donations, the lottery said.
"Anything my kids ask for I can actually get it for them and I don’t have to tell them no,” she said. When asked if she would, however, still tell them no, she chuckled and said, "yes."
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