Linn County Woman Gets 'Fresh Start' With $30K Lottery Prize

From Iowa Lottery Office:  

A Linn County woman said she scratched off her “Crossword” instant-scratch ticket and won a $30,000 lottery prize.

Ashley Elmore, of Center Point, said she had her mother double-check her winning ticket before claiming her prize at the lottery’s regional office in Cedar Rapids on Friday. She purchased her winning ticket at Road Ranger, 2349 Blairs Ferry Road in Cedar Rapids.

“I was so unsure. I had to have her check it for me. We probably checked it 10 times,” Elmore said. “We kept writing down the words and we’re like, ‘Is it 10? Are you sure it’s a 10?”

Elmore, 28, claimed the 62nd of 97 top prizes of $30,000 available in the Iowa Lottery’s Crossword scratch game. The registered nurse said she plans to pay off debt and celebrate her daughter’s birthday with her winnings.

“I can get a fresh start,” she said. “It’s a great birthday present for her and a great way to start fresh financially for us.”

Elmore said she considers herself a lucky person and believes that “everything happens for a reason.”

“I’m a very optimistic person and things happen to good people,” she said. “I always try to help everybody else and it pays off in the long run.”

Crossword is a $3 scratch game. Players win a prize by uncovering at least three complete words in the ticket’s puzzle. If a player uncovers 10 words, he/she wins $30,000. The overall odds of winning a prize in the game are 1 in 3.82.

            Thirty-five top prizes of $30,000 are still up for grabs in Crossword, as well as 52 prizes of $3,000 and thousands more prizes of $300 and $100.

Since the lottery’s start in 1985, its players have won more than $3.1 billion in prizes while the lottery has raised more than $1.4 billion for the state programs that benefit all Iowans.

Today, lottery proceeds in Iowa have three main purposes: They provide support for veterans, help for a variety of significant projects through the state General Fund, and backing for the Vision Iowa program, which was implemented to create tourism destinations and community attractions in the state and build and repair schools.