Sunday drive lands Wilmington woman $4M scratch-off prize

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A Sunday drive after church made a Wilmington woman a lot richer.

Donna Griffith says she and her husband recently took a drive up to Pender County one Sunday afternoon.

“One of my favorite things to do is go for long drives,” Griffith said, according to a news release from the North Carolina Education Lottery. “It’s nice and peaceful.”

They couple stopped at the Phoenix Travel Center on NC 210 in Rocky Point, which Griffith says is one of her favorite places to buy lottery tickets. The clinical researcher bought a $200 Million Blowout scratch-off ticket and took it back to the car.

“I gasped when I scratched the ticket,” Griffith said, according to the release. “I was speechless. I couldn’t talk. It didn’t feel real. It’s still surreal.”

Griffith claimed the prize yesterday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. She chose the lump sum payout of $2.4 million. After taxes, she walked away with $1,692,030.

Griffith said she plans to use most of the money for retirement.

“I’m not going to quit my job,” Griffith said. “I enjoy what I do. It will just be nice to have this for retirement.”