Loose Change And Prayers Lead To Ledgewood Lottery Win

PARSIPPANY, NJ — For one Ledgewood lottery player, living on a prayer really paid off: The winner of a $4 million jackpot win said she prayed heavily before her winning numbers were drawn.

Wanda M. of Ledgewood was the sole winner of the $4 million Pick-6 jackpot drawing on April 29. A regular player, Wanda scrounges up loose change from around the home to pay for the tickets, and always uses the Quick Pick numbers she's given. She'd bought two tickets for the April 29 drawing.

"Before the drawing, she had said a lot of prayers that one of the tickets would be a jackpot winner. As she watched the drawing, it was astonishing as the numbers on her ticket matched what was appearing – one by one – on the television screen and announced by the draw hostess," lottery officials said. "To her surprise, those many prayers were answered! Every number on one of the two tickets did match the numbers drawn. Wanda had in her hand a winning ticket for the Pick-6 jackpot worth $4,000,000! This was her very first big win!!"

Wanda sat there, thinking about how her luck had changed when her daughter came home. The daughter was concerned something was wrong, lottery officials said, until Wanda burst out: "We won the big one!"

The pair validated their ticket at their regular retailer. The next day, mother, daughter, and son drove to the lottery headquarters in Lawrenceville to claim the $4 million.