$10K Lottery Win for Annapolis Mom Rebuilds Nest Egg

ANNAPOLIS, MD — A Maryland Lottery scratch-off win will enable Jennifer O’Neill of Annapolis to make her dream of finding – and feathering – a new nest come true. The $10,000 prize she won on a$100,000 Gold Rush scratch-off will replenish the housing funds she kept tapping into to meet other expenses.

“This couldn’t come at a better time,” said the 27-year-old, who has a 6-year-old daughter, Jayla, and lives with roommates.

A clerk at the Anne Arundel County Department of Social Services in Annapolis, Jennifer has enjoyed playing scratch-offs since she turned 18. She dabbled in Powerball “when it was like $1 billion,” she said, “but I’m really a scratch-off kind of girl.” This win eclipses her other small prizes on the $100,000 Gold Rush game.

“I never in a million years expected to win anything more than $100,” Jennifer said.

On the Saturday of her lucky win, the Anne Arundel County woman visited the 7-Eleven store at 7301 Furnace Branch Road in Glen Burnie. She cashed a winning scratch-off, got something to eat and left without buying a scratch-off.

“A few hours went by and I thought, ‘I’m going to go back,’” she said.

She bought $40 worth of scratch-offs and was stunned when the $100,000 Gold Rush ticket showed row after row of winning numbers.

Elated, Jennifer called her mother.

“I said, ‘Mom, do you have a calculator?’ and my mom said, ‘Jen, I think you won $10,000.’ I said, ‘This is not real!’”

»PHOTO: Jennifer O’Neill of Annapolis won $10,000; courtesy of Maryland Lottery