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.
Thats a very nice story. I hope it made the person feel really good doing it.
What a wonderful thing to do, nice story.
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 .
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
The person knows they can't take it with them: So they are sending it on ahead!
Times 10!
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!
He may be consanguineous to you!
What a great story. But on the other hand I could use that cash as well to pay bills
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.
The lucky winner was also clever enough to not take it back to the store for Mr. Patel
to have a peek at.
Why bother buying a ticket just to give ALL away?
I won't give it away either, but People can do what they want with their winning and their money. What I don't understand is people that do not sign their tickets or scratch off right away after purchased them. it avoid a lot of trouble if you lose your ticket or a retailer tries to steal it and claim it. Easy to say : You won 2$, when in fact you won 2 Millions dollar...
What a beautiful gift! But Alfonzo Riggins said that people were already criticising the church for accepting the money. While Gloria Rodgers said "and it's a blessing I'm not telling anybody to go out and gamble..."
Why do so many religious people believe that playing the lottery is sinful? And why do they believe the winning money is tainted? Don't they know that the Holy Land was divided by lottery. Read Numbers 26:55-56 in the Bible. The names of the 12 tribes were written down and put in a box, and the coordinates of the 12 territories into which the land was divided was put in another box. Then pairs of lots - one from each box were drawn. And a temple priest presided over the whole draw.
Sometimes (when we are having a difficult time) we may lose faith in the lottery. It is then that we should remember that the Holy Land was divided by lottery.
Just left Jerry's and the employee's and fellow lottery player's are excited about the winning ticket and the generosity of the donor.
WTG!
That's something that you and your kind are incapable of understanding.
So don't worry about it.
I would give 10% to church/charity like Yahweh himself has adviced in the good book.
Lets see, Feds take 25%, MA state taxes take 5%, Yahweh takes 10% and I'm left with
$48,000 and hopefully no paying Uncle Sam more taxes at the end of the year. I want to win $80,000 too
He says that no one at the church plays the lottery.. That is a very ignorant statement..
Yes, it's a very nice gesture.
I still want to know who pays the tax on this. I'm pretty sure the state and I'm really sure the feds aren't going to let $80,000 go tax free.
If the church goes the tax-exempt route (can they on this?) then the tax people are going to think it's a scam, the winner "gives" the ticket to the church, let's the church cash it in, 0 taxes, and the ticket buyer and the church go dibs. Even if that wasn't the player's intention, that's what the tax people will take it as.
Ever heard of the Universal Life Church? It still exists. There was a big scam in the 1980s. You pay to get "ordained". Then you declare yourself a "church". You "donate" all your money to the church and then turn around and take out what you need to live on.
You can't get that on anymore, but the "church" sztill exists.
No, he never sang nothin to me!
I don't even know the dude.
And I don't roll like that anyway.
those patel's seems to own a store everywhere.........
i think it already has.
Because A) you have a cause you want to support with more money than you have, but
B) you can't get into public office to use other people's money to support it.
Well according to the NT, the "tenth" portion or 10 percent was something required under the law in the OT. In the NT, the Word says over and over that God loves a cheerful giver, not one who gives out of compulsion. To say that 10 percent is required by God is in direct contradiction with the NT. In Hebrews, it even states that all those things required under the law to be "righteous" have been annulled. So God does not require a person to give 10 percent. If the person's heart feels like giving 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, or even 100 percent, the only thing God asks is that the person has done so cheerfully and willingly, not out of compulsion. Then, and only then will that person be blessed. You may wonder why so many people in churches today are sticking to the law and giving at least 10 percent and not being blessed...I bet (yes I do bet on the lottery) those people are grudgingly giving that amount. So no blessings. Peace. Now for all the Bible scholars to flame me.....standing by!
A
Ya know you don't hear this stuff everyday. Its refreshing to hear this all happen. I have to say I would probably done the same thing however not with that ticket. Something like the Powerball winnings. 1 mil fun for me, 1-2 mil, put into dividend stock, set for the rest of my life, the rest, distribute to different churches.