Lucky lottery winner does not hesitate to pay it forward

By Kate Northrop

AURORA, Ill. — An Illinois woman who was "blessed" by a $1 million lottery win has already given away $100,000.

There's one Illinois lottery player who's won several smaller prizes here and there, but once she finally came into a big win worth $1 million, her very first instinct was to figure out how she could pay it forward.

Antoinette "Toni" Green of Aurora brought in a winning scratch-off ticket worth $1 million to validate at the Illinois Lottery. Between the prize claim and the Lottery's announcement about her win, she revealed that she had already given a huge sum of the money to others.

"I've given away over $100,000 already," Green told the Lottery. "When I was blessed with this prize, I knew I was finally in a position to give back, to help my friends and family, and to pay it forward."

Green has won several small prizes from time to time from her "lucky store," Ruby's Liquor on Butterfield Road in Aurora. At a recent visit to her favorite retailer, she bought a $10 "Monopoly 50X" scratch-off ticket.

The store employees, who knew her well, were there the instant she found out she had finally won big.

"Toni has won a few smaller prizes here and actually claimed our store as her 'lucky store' — she's been coming regularly ever since," store owner Anup Singh said in a press release. "My son, Jas, was working the day she won the million-dollar prize. He said she scratched the ticket and started screaming 'Oh my gosh!' She then had him scan the ticket multiple times, and sure enough, the $1 million prize was real."

Amidst the adrenaline-infused celebration, the cashier offered a bit of advice to Green. It was immediately after the gleeful moment that she realized what she wanted to do with the prize.

"The clerk couldn't believe it and I couldn't believe it," Green recalled. "He said, 'Toni, sign your ticket and go straight home — you won a million dollars!' I sat in my car in front of Ruby's in total shock, and then I had an epiphany: I can help others. I can make a difference in somebody's life with this money."

Green worked as a school bus driver before the pandemic and most recently as a Certified Medical Assistant. For as long as she can remember, Green always naturally found herself taking care of others, whether in her work or in her own time.

"I get joy out of seeing other people's happiness and wondering how I can help be a part of that," the winner said. "The other day I overheard a young woman who could only afford a gallon of gas, and I paid the clerk to fill up her tank. It's not about what you can do for yourself, but what you can do for others."

Ruby's Liquor will receive a bonus of one percent of the prize from the Lottery, or $10,000.

"Our store has only been open for a couple of years, so it's very exciting to receive this bonus from the Illinois Lottery. It's definitely a big boost for our business. We hope to spend the bonus on more inventory for our store, and if my son really is lucky, I might give a little bit to him for selling the winning ticket," Singh laughed.

Green claimed the second of three available top prizes of $1 million in the $10 "Monopoly 50X" scratch-off game, which launched in January. There are also three out of six second-tier prizes of $100,000 and nine out of 27 third-tier prizes of $5,000 remaining.

The odds of winning any prize in the game are 1 in 3.39.

(Click to display full-size in gallery)Antoinette "Toni" Green of Aurora, Illinois won $1 million playing the Illinois Lottery's $10 Monopoly 50X scratch-off game.