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Midway woman wins $500K in lottery
Winner says money will not change who she is
0309 Lotto winner
From left, Get-N-Go co-owner Ruth Miles, lottery winner Sandra Smith and Georgia Lottery sales representative Janet Rawls pose with a jumbo-size copy of Smiths award check. - photo by Denise Etheridge

Lake George resident Sandra Smith, 45, said her half-million-dollar win from the $10 instant game Jumbo Jumbo Bucks won’t drastically change her life. The mother and first-time grandmother-to-be plans to spend her $500,000 cash award helping out family and friends.
“It’s not going to change me,” Smith said. “This is just who I am.”
She intends to pay off bills and donate to such charities as the American Cancer Society and the National Kidney Foundation.
“I have a friend whose son is battling brain cancer,” Smith said. “A few nights ago I was on my knees praying and God saw fit to give (this gift) to me.”
Smith bought her winning ticket March 3 at the Get-N-Go on Limerick Road in Midway. She said she’s a regular at William and Ruth Miles’s neighborhood convenience store.
“I play all the time,” Smith said. “I’ve won a little bit here and there. That day I bought four of that (Jumbo Jumbo Bucks) roll along with other tickets. I never thought I’d hit anything like this.”
She said her grown children still were in disbelief over her win.
The Lake George woman currently is unemployed and said the award won’t be wasted. She said she won’t buy a
new car; rather, she’ll help out her children. The only rewards she plans to give herself are “new kitchen appliances.”
The Miles opened the Get-N-Go in 1975, William Miles said. Ruth Miles said Smith’s big win is the largest they’ve had so far. However, three of the convenience store’s customers each won $1,000 last month, said Georgia Lottery sales representative Janet Rawls.
“The total (lottery) pay out at this store was $245,000 last year,” Rawls said.
Smith’s advice to lottery winner hopefuls is “Just keep playing.”

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