Stephany Marchese, the winner of a $1 million Powerball prize with nine of her coworkers at a Staten Island, N.Y., nursing home, has very simple advice for those eyeing this Friday's $400 million Mega Millions jackpot.
"Play, play, play," Marchese, 61, said. "It took $2 and a dream for us. Just play. You never know."
Marchese is a member of the self-titled "The Fabulous 9," a group of three friends and six coworkers at the Eger Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Egertville, Staten Island, who have been pitching in $10 each per month for the past 20 years for lottery tickets.
In October, the "Fabulous 9," discovered they had a winning Powerball ticket and yesterday the group received their prize, a $1 million jackpot broken down into a lump sum for each of $69,226, or "60 and some change," according to Marchese.
"I cried because I was so happy," she said. "I plan to do a little for everybody and take a little vacation and pay off some obligations I have and save."
Marchese, a married mother of two and grandmother to one, has worked at Eger for the past decade and started buying Powerball tickets with the group 15 years ago. She had a very quick answer when asked if this coming Christmas will be a good one for her and her family.
"Yes it will. Believe me you," Marchese said.
Though they range in age from their 40s to their 60s, according to Marchese, one thing all members of "The Fabulous 9? have in common is that they showed up for work today.
The other members of group who collected a check Tuesday were Annette Alexis, Mauleen Gomez, Fatumata Massalee, Marva Prevost, Roseanne Pucciarelli, Linda Rizzo, Deborah Scalera and Lucille White, according to The New York Lottery.
Marchese says the group never had a formal contract should they win but just relied on a rotation of who would buy the tickets, always used Quick Pick to select the numbers and had a mutual understanding that they would equally split the winnings.
She also says there was no co-worker envy when they each returned to the 600 employee-nursing home the next day more than $60,000 richer.
"Everybody is happy. We're all happy. It's a blessing," Marchese said.
I bought my 1 quick pick ticket.
I am not a big lottery spender, but I did spend $5 on Quick Picks for this very nice Jackpot!
Pennsylvania needs to finally win a Mega Millions Jackpot!
No big winner since the first tickets were sold here in 2010.
Well they said fabulous nine but i only see eight in the picture all looking cute. But the first lady in that pic is extremly hot so this is my offer for her am going to win the next $400,000,000 and am going to offer her half of it $200,000,000 for a 30yr marriage prenup with no divorce option and she has to quit her job because i need a full undivided attention and if she is still married well we will pay her husband $1million dollars to sign all divorce papers within 7days. And with her nursing experience it means am always going to be in good hands 24/7 ye i think it's a good deal for both of us even if she is a gold digger its ok am digging for treasures too but maybe not exactly gold but better .lol
Go back to sleep. The first girl works for NYLotto.
Well thank you for the update and new information but that doesn't change my offer or feelings at least i know she loves to work for a lottery company meaning she dreams of big pay day too perfect storm for a perfect deal .Maybe this deal will go thru faster than i think lol
Lmao
What A Great Reply
15 years is a long time to play in a lottery pool
Glad it worked out for them
Am not saying that winning the mega millions is easy but if she is added as an incentive in my equation to win that maybe all i need to change the scale of luck to tilt down on my favour . You may not believe how far a little sweet incentive can go to making big money. lol
You marry her, then you can't play the lottery. Lottery employees and their family can't play the lottery.(well, you can play, but if you win it is invalid.)
So you'd have to make her quit her dream job, and then she'd resent you for life.
Whats up JBL. Kind of looks like you have been hanging around Pedro lately. With $200M, you can own the DR and get all the action you want. No single action is worth that much, even if it is made of platinum. The lady in the picture might look enticing to you now, but looks aren't everything. What if she stinks or sucks in real life?. Try and find real love, and it would not cost you as much, and you will even end up very, very happy. Good luck.
I think she'll take your offer. Read somewhere she likes to Riverdance, so as long as you pay for dance lessons and travel expences, this might work out.
Joe, I agree with your taste. She is beautiful.
Getting tired of settling for inexpensive prostitues?