Chamber Director Italy Bound Thanks to $200G Lottery Win

Michael Carpanzano won't soon be forgetting his 27th birthday. And neither will his family, who not only gave him the present of a lifetime but will be sharing it as well.

Carpanzano, a Joliet resident and president of the Bolingbrook Chamber of Commerce, found a few lottery tickets into the birthday card he received from his parents and brother this year and one of them paid off big -- to the tune of $200,000, according to a news release from the Illinois Lottery.

“We still can’t believe I won such a big prize!” Carpanzano told Lottery officials.

Carpanzano, who discovered he had a winning ticket while celebrating his birthday on Father's Day with his family, said he planned to use some of the money to take his parents and brother on vacation to Italy, where his mother was born, he said in the news release.

“I want to use this money for some great family experiences,” he said.

The Blues Bingo ticket was purchased at a Melrose Park 7-Eleven, which will receive a $2,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.