Facebook Post Alerts Woman to Claim $20,000 Lottery Prize Days Before Deadline
Fellow Lottery Player's Deed Saves Mega Millions® Win
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CLIVE, Iowa - A central Iowa woman was days away from missing out on a $20,000 Iowa Lottery prize, until she saw a social media message from a total stranger.
"I read a post Tuesday night on an Ankeny Facebook page saying that somebody had been by the gas station, saw a note posted that somebody had won $20,000 in Mega Millions® back in March, and the ticket expires Monday," Mary Blumer of Ankeny said. "So I went to my purse, pulled it out and sure enough, it's my ticket."
Blumer bought her winning ticket at Kum & Go, 165 SW Magazine Rd. in Ankeny. The prize, won in the March 26 Mega Millions drawing, was set to expire on Monday, Sept. 23. Blumer claimed her prize Wednesday at lottery headquarters in Clive, with just days to spare.
Blumer said she has a habit of putting lottery tickets in her purse and forgetting about them. She remembered planning to scan them at the gas station the next time she fueled up. But that was months ago.
"Well, now it's September, I never had them read," Blumer said.
Thankfully, Anne Rodriguez of Ankeny was looking out for Blumer and other lottery players. Rodriguez saw a lottery sign about unclaimed prizes at Kum & Go, took a picture of it, and posted it on Facebook, trying to get the attention of the prize winner. Iowa Lottery staff were able to get in touch with Rodriguez after Blumer claimed her winnings and said she checked her tickets after seeing the Facebook post.
Rodriguez was thrilled that her effort led to the prize being claimed.
"Are you kidding me?" she said over the phone. "I'm so glad! That was bugging me all week and I just thought, 'I've got to put something on there.' Awesome!"
The Iowa Lottery produces flyers about current unclaimed prizes in the state and distributes them to retail locations to help call attention to them.
Rodriguez said she's a regular lottery player herself. When she saw the lottery sign and realized that a fellow player was about to lose out on a lot of money, she knew she had to do something.
"They're just out there with their $20,000 they could have. So the first day I just thought about it. I didn't really do anything. And I thought, next time I'm in there I'm going to take a picture of that information and I'm going to put it on the Ankeny page and maybe something will happen," Rodriguez said.
Something did happen.
"I could almost cry! I'm so happy for her," said Rodriguez, who admitted she was shocked her post worked.
Blumer has a message of gratitude for Rodriguez and her thoughtful deed.
"Thank you, I owe you at least a tank of gas or something! Because without her, I would have never, never looked at those tickets," Blumer said.
Blumer works for a local credit union and plans to retire soon. She said she will use some of her winnings to start savings accounts for her grandchildren.
Mega Millions prize winners must claim their winnings within 180 days of the drawing. For more information about Mega Millions, visit ialottery.com.
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