Berks County Man Wins $62,763 from PA Lottery's CASH 5!

Assignment Desks

MIDDLETOWN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 6, 2003

Leroy E. Schaeffer, 61, says he's a regular CASH 5 player who always picks his own numbers based on family members' birthdates.

Leroy is grateful to his loved ones for having such lucky birthdays, as he matched all five numbers in the November 27, 2002, drawing to win $62,763, less 27 percent federal withholding. Three other winners equally split the $251,052 jackpot with Leroy.

Leroy will receive his winnings check from the Pennsylvania Lottery during a formal presentation Tuesday, January 7, 2003, at 11 am at the Grand Central Taproom located at 45 West Main Street in Elwood, where he purchased his winning ticket.

Presenting the check to Leroy will be District Lottery Representative Mike Wummer. Earl and Sandra Stitzer, owners of the licensed Lottery retail location, will host the event.

Leroy, a resident of Lyon Station, PA, says he watches the drawings on television nightly. On November 27, he sat with his wife, Shirley, and wrote down the winning numbers as they were drawn. "She knew we won before I did," said Leroy, as he recalls Shirley shouting out the last winning number on the ticket.

Leroy, recently retired from Dana Corp. after 34 years of service, says he will most likely spend some of his winnings on new bowling equipment. He bowls competitively on three different league teams: the Eagles, No Clue and JNL. "I used to play against these guys pretty good," Leroy says, "but then they started buying brand new balls, and now it's getting tougher."

To play CASH 5, players select five numbers from a field of one to 39. Each game is just $1. Players may select their own set of numbers or have a "quick pick" computer-selection method do it for them. If a player matches two, three, four or five of the numbers drawn that day, he or she is a cash prize winner.

The Pennsylvania Lottery remains the only state Lottery that designates its proceeds to benefit older citizens.

Since inception nearly 31 years ago, the Lottery has contributed $12.9 billion to programs that have expanded to include property tax and rent rebates, free and reduced fare transit for older Pennsylvanians, a co-pay prescription drug program (PACE and PACENET) and the 52 Area Agencies on Aging, including 650 full- and part-time senior centers, located throughout Pennsylvania.

In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002, the Pennsylvania Lottery ranked highly among the most profitable lotteries in the U.S. Of the 38 state lotteries, the Pennsylvania Lottery finished 2nd in net income as a percentage of sales, 3rd in traditional sales (excluding Keno, multi-state games such as Powerball(R) and video lottery terminals) per employee and 4th in net income per employee.

Players must be 18 years of age or older.