ATLANTA – Jay Key Jr. of Springfield won a $50,000 top prize playing the popular instant game Jumbo Bucks Classic.
Key claimed his prize Wednesday at the Georgia Lottery’s District Office in Savannah.
Gateway Texaco, 3 Gateway Blvd. W. in Savannah, sold the lucky ticket.
“I was on my lunch break. I stopped to buy ChapStick, and there it was,” said Key.
After looking at the ticket awhile, the father of two said his heart dropped, and he started shaking.
“I was in my work truck, so I headed back to the job,” he said. “It was hard to believe.”
Key, who recently proposed to his girlfriend, anticipates paying off bills and planning for his wedding.
Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $14 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program. More than 1.4 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.2 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.