Business receives $1,000 for selling winning ticket

Panhandle Package store owner Magnesh Patel (left) was recognized by the Florida Lottery’s Tallahassee District Manager Randall Fox Wednesday for selling a $1.8 million Mega Money ticket.

By: Lauren Delgado | Jackson County Floridan
Published: January 18, 2012

Panhandle Package, located at 5837 U.S. 231, received a $1,000 check on Wednesday from the Florida Lottery for selling a winning Mega Money ticket.

That quick pick ticket earned Ruben Thomas from Dothan, Ala., $1,449,114.30.

Store owner Magnesh Patel plans to use the money to improve the Lotto playing experience at the store. He isn’t sure what to attribute the store’s luck to.

“The person who won the ticket, we wish him good luck for the rest of his life,” Patel said.

Lottery ticket sales make up the bulk of the store’s business, Patel said. Randall Fox, the Tallahassee District Manager for the Florida Lottery, said the store is consistently a top earner in the state. He attributes this to the store’s location so near the Alabama line.

This isn’t the first time a grand prize winning Mega Money ticket has been bought in Jackson County. In 2009, Seminole Outdoors in Sneads sold a winning ticket with a $650,000 jackpot.

The area has also seen other lottery game winners. James Earl Hunt from Altha won $1 million from a scratch off ticket in December. In August, Robert Skipper from Graceville won $4 million from a scratch off ticket.

“I tell folks if you don’t buy a ticket, you definitely won’t win,” Fox said. “The real story here is that people really do win.”

The Florida Lottery reports that about $558 million from Mega Money proceeds has gone to education. There have been 110,104,711 winners, 76 of whom have been made millionaires.