Lottery Dishes out $8,000,000 in Holiday Cheer To Three from Massapequa Park and Queens Village

GARDEN CITY, NY (12/15/2011)(readMedia)-- The New York Lottery's Gretchen Dizer today brought some holiday cheer to three lucky jackpot winners from Long Island and Queens. The winners won their collective $8,000,000 in prizes on two different scratch-off tickets. The group received their ceremonial "big checks" at the Lottery's Customer Service Center in Garden City just in time for the holidays.

Theresa Holzknecht, 48, of Massapequa Park, Nassau County won $3,000,000 on the Triple Million scratch-off game. Holzknecht works as a secretary for her family run awning business and it was actually her husband who purchased the winning ticket on November 26 at Ed's Service Center on Carmens Road in Massapequa.

"My husband usually goes the store to buy our scratch-offs so that day I asked him to by me a Triple Million ticket. When he got home, he told me it was the ticket I picked that won us the jackpot," explained the mother of four. Holzknecht claimed her $3,000,000 prize on November 28 at the Lottery's Customer Service Center in Garden City.

As is the case with most New York Lottery scratch-off games, the top prize on the Triple Million ticket is paid as an annuity. Holzknecht will receive her $3,000,000 prize as $150,000 a year for 20 years. Her annual net check will total $99,045.

Holzknecht said her newfound wealth will certainly change things for her and her family. "We're selling our house and moving to Virginia. We love it there!"

The day's biggest payout belonged to 28-year-old Edwin Zhingre of Queens Village. Zhingre won the $5,000,000 top prize on the new Mega Money Multiplier scratch-off game. The lucky winner really got into the spirit of giving when he decided to split his prize with his older brother, Mario Zhingri. The brothers might spell their last names differently, but they have remained close since moving to New York from Ecuador 10 years ago.

"My brother and I run our own construction company so we are used to sharing," explained Zhingri. "When Edwin called me to tell me the news, I was very happy for him. Right now we really don't know what to feel."

Zhingre purchased their winning ticket on December 1 at the Sarahi Grocery on Springfield Boulevard in Springfield Gardens. The $5,000,000 top prize on the Mega Money Multiplier ticket is paid out as a one-time lump sum payment. The brothers chose to split their prize evenly, each receiving $2,500,000 (net $1,553,850).

The brothers still don't know how they will spend their instant windfall. "We still feel the same as we did before we won the jackpot", explained Zhingri. "We'll take care of some of the company bills. After that, who knows?"

The New York Lottery continues to be North America's largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing over $3 billion in fiscal year 2010-2011 to help support education in New York State. The Lottery's aid represents over 15 percent of total state education funding to local school districts.

Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education. It takes into account both a school district's size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of Lottery school funding.

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