Microsoft Word document of news release

Media-ready jpeg of Ciara McDonnell and Lottery Exec. Dir. Ed Van Petten

DATE: September 4, 2009
CONTACT: Sally Lunsford (785) 296-5708, sally.lunsford@kslottery.net

Bonner Springs 18-Year-Old Claims $75,000 Lottery Prize

TOPEKA, KAN. – Ciara McDonnell, 18, remembers with absolute clarity how she came to win $75,000 playing the lottery. She says it all started with a television show.

“A few weeks ago, my mom and I were watching a TV show about how the lottery changed people’s lives. We decided right then and there we were going to try to win ourselves,” said McDonnell. McDonnell’s mother says her daughter had a strong feeling that watching the show had been no coincidence.

“Ciara always said, ‘I feel like I’m a rich girl in a poor girl’s world,’” laughed Deborah McDonnell.

And so, when Ciara and her parents were driving by a Casey’s store Wednesday night, Ciara and Deborah made a spur-of-the-moment decision to stop and purchase a few tickets. One of their purchases was a $10 scratch ticket called $2,000,000 Cash Bonanza, on which Ciara scratched off a $75,000 top prize!

“We really couldn’t believe it,” said Ciara’s dad Quinton McDonnell. “We kept checking the ticket over and over again.”

Once she was satisfied that she really had a big win, Ciara texted her fiancé Zach Cohorst in Egypt, where he is serving with the Kansas Army National Guard.

“Of course, he thought I was kidding,” said Ciara.

Ciara McDonnell works in the beauty shop her mother owns, Classy Cuts Too, located in Basehor. She plans to buy her mother a new car with her prize money, and will also save some for a wedding cruise planned for February 2011.

The lucky $75,000 winning ticket was purchased at Casey’s General Store, located at 15441 Wolfcreek Parkway in Basehor.