After Going Into Labor She Won $100,000 Lottery Prize

November 9th was a good day for Brenda Gomez Hernandez of Concord, North Carolina. Just a few hours after Hernandez went into labor and delivered a baby girl, a Powerball ticket gave her a $100,000 prize.  Hernandez, a 28-year-old housekeeper, matched numbers on four white balls and the Powerball to win $50,000 in the Nov. 9 drawing. The prize doubled to $100,000 when the 2X Power Play multiplier hit. Hernandez bought her $3 Quick Pick ticket from the QuikTrip on Warren C Coleman Boulevard in Concord.

Hernandez says, "I have two sons and I used their birthdays to pick my numbers,” which is what many lottery winners use as good luck. When Hernandez claimed her prize Wednesday at lottery headquarters, after required tax withholdings, she took home $65,015. Hernandez said a large portion of her winnings would pay for her home. Just in case you want to play the lottery, Saturday’s Powerball drawing offers a  big jackpot. Powerball is one of four lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets at a retail location or with Online Play through the lottery’s website or on the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. The other games are Mega Millions, Lucky For Life, and Carolina Cash 5.

It's good to know that ticket sales from draw games like Powerball make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $2.5 million a day for education. For details on how $15.6 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Cabarrus County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.