MA Woman Wins Lotto, Buys Homeless Man Hotel Stay

Photo: Sofia Lorena, of Wareham, with a homeless man she purchased a hotel for on the coldest night of the winter. (Credit: Sofia Lorena)

WAREHAM, MA — A Wareham woman who won a $200 scratch ticket used her winnings to buy a hotel stay for a homeless man on the coldest night of the year.

It all happened Saturday, when wind chill values in the region plummeted to -25. Sofia Lorena, a single mother of three, had just collected her winnings and was driving in New Bedford when she saw Glenn Williams panhandling in the frigid weather.

“He was crying,” she recalled. “I was so excited until I looked up and saw Glenn.”

She offered him a ride to a Dunkin’ Donuts for coffee and found out he had nowhere to stay that night because local shelters were full. So she used her winnings to buy a two-night stay at the Rosewood Inn in Wareham.

“There was a reason I met him” Lorena told CBS Boston. “And I knew the money wasn’t mine. It was given to me to help someone else.”

Lorena also started an online fundraiser for Williams that has raised more than $13,000 so far.

Last week, a Seekonk police officer who came across a homeless woman bought her groceries and found her shelter as a blizzard approached.

• Seekonk Cop Buys Food, Finds Shelter for Homeless Woman to Ride Out Blizzard