Lottery winner plans ahead

Alford resident Dawna McAlpin has taken steps to make sure she never falls victim to the “curse of the lottery.” She secured all but 8 percent of her winnings, placing them in a protected and growing portfolio for her children.
McAlpin won last Wednesday night’s lottery drawing with a quick pick ticket. The manager of the HandiMart BP station below Grand Ridge, she bought it at work, and discovered she’d won the next day.
She took some time off last Thursday morning so she could go to Tallahassee and claim her winnings. Her ticket numbers were 14-16-19-43-45.
The lottery rolled over six times, amassing a purse of $15 million that she could have taken in incremental payments, to get the full amount. But McAlpin decided to take her winnings in a lump sum, which totalled $8.6 million. After taxes, she expects to have about $7 million. Lottery officials came to her work place in Jackson County this Wednesday to present her with a ceremonial check.
Officials also presented the store owner, Sangaree Oil Company, with its bonus of $40,000 for having sold the winning ticket. Jeanie Sangaree said the money will go back into the company’s nine area stores.
McAlpin didn’t have to make a special trip to work in order to participate in the ceremony; she was already there on duty. Sangaree said she’s glad McAlpin doesn’t plan to quit working there. She’s such a good manager, Sangaree said, that the store pretty much runs itself without any trouble.
Although McAlpin plans to keep working there, she might cut back on the extra hours she’s spent cleaning houses in order to help make ends meet at home. She also works at Bear Paw Canoe Adventures, juggling the three jobs to help feed and clothe her four children, and one more she and husband David Livingston are helping to raise.
Until last Wednesday, the family often had to choose which bills to pay one week and which they could put off to the next paycheck.
McAlpin said she’s looking forward to easing up on her schedule so she can have more time to be involved with her children’s extracurricular activities. Before, she could barely make it to their events on time because of her heavy work schedule. She can see herself as a booster for their organizations now.
As pleased as she was to have won the lottery, McAlpin was prouder still of how her children behaved on a clothes-shopping spree they took after the win.
“All of them bought everything off the clearance rack,” she said, beaming. “They saved $500.”
Her only big personal purchase so far has been a new truck. She had to be talked into spending the money to get the one she wanted.
The only other big-ticket expense she plans is the continued renovation of the family’s home in Alford. She’s not planning to add any features that weren’t already in the works, she said. The only difference is they won’t have to live with torn-out walls and other mid-construction inconveniences associated with doing the work piecemeal.
Described by one lottery official as one of the most down-to-earth winners he’s ever met, McAlpin said its important she and her family members stay grounded, now that they are instant millionaires.
The children are still required to fulfill all their responsibilities at home and school, for instance.
They won’t see their money until their old and wise enough to handle it wisely, she said. Her life going forward will be devoted in part to making sure that happens. She said she wants her kids, ages 4 through 17, to be such good stewards that they will have significant amounts of money to pass down to their own children some day.
McAlpin, 33, and her husband set aside 8 percent of the total to live on the rest of their lives.
On $7 million, that comes to about $568,000.

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Sangaree Oil Company owners Jeanie, Steve and son Terry Sangaree talk with a Florida lottery official Wednesday after receiving their ceremonial lottery check for $40,000; that’s the bonus they received because Dawna McAlpin purchased her winning ticket at their BP convenience store County Road 69 in Grand Ridge, where the winner is also an employee. – Photo Courtesy of Florida Lottery