Pictured, from left, is Mirabito CEO Rich Mirabito, Lottery Winner Maureen Yacynych and Yolanda Vega.
Forty-seven-year-old Maureen Yacynych of Vestal said winning a $10,000,000 top prize on the New York Lottery’s Win $10,000 A Week For Life scratch-off game was more than just a little nerve-wracking.
“I thought I lost at first because I had scratched off all the numbers on the top of the ticket except for one and none of them matched any of my numbers below,” recalled the mother of two. “Then I scratched the last number on top, number 46, and it matched one of the numbers on the bottom. I didn’t see the dollar amount printed underneath it. I just saw the word, ‘Life.’”
Yacynych said she “felt like Jell-O” when she realized the value of that ‘Life’ symbol. “All I was hoping for was to win enough money to buy my husband, John, a new car because his is really old,” she laughed.
Yacynych opted to take the cash value of the guaranteed $10,000,000 payout, which totals $8,184,396. Her net check will total $5,416,433.
The lucky winner said her first priority will remain her family. “I don’t want this to change our lifestyle. We’re just relieved to know that our future is secure and our children’s futures are secure.”
Yacynych purchased her $10,000,000-winning ticket at Mirabito at 3300 Old Vestal Road in Vestal.
The New York Lottery continues to be North America’s largest and most profitable Lottery, contributing $3.17 billion in fiscal year 2013-2014 to help support education in New York State. The Lottery’s contribution represents 15 percent of total state education aid to local school districts.
New York Lottery revenue is distributed to local school districts by the same statutory formula used to distribute other state aid to education. It takes into account both a school district’s size and its income level; larger, lower-income school districts receive proportionately larger shares of Lottery school funding.
