SEARCH NEWS:

 

Lottery Winner Shuns Attention

ST. ALBANS, West Virginia – As reported by the Associated Press: "The letters never stop. Requests, pleas, hard-luck stories, tales to break your heart: thousands of them, enough to fill hip-high filing cabinets that line three conference-room walls in Andrew "Jack" Whittaker's new office.

"They come by the dozens, day after day, though it has been a year since Whittaker won the richest undivided lottery jackpot in U.S. history -- $314.9 million, payable in an after-tax lump sum of $113 million -- in a Christmas Day drawing.

"…The visitors keep coming, too. Two to four a day -- from as far away as Washington and Idaho -- bringing tales of woe to the Scott Depot house Whittaker still owns, ringing the bell still answered by his wife, Jewell.

"…'If I had to do it all over, I'd be more secluded about it,' said Whittaker, a sewer and water contractor who built a multimillion-dollar business well before he won the jackpot.

"…After winning the Powerball jackpot, Whittaker brought his wife, daughter and granddaughter to a news conference, then did a round of national interviews in which he said he would donate a tenth of his winnings to his church and start a foundation to help poor West Virginians.

"Unlike other lottery winners, Whittaker was used to handling big money before he hit the jackpot. He said he has spent about $45 million in the past year, much of it buying dozens of properties for industrial development in West Virginia and Ohio.

"…About $14 million has been spent on charity work, almost half of it through the Jack Whittaker Foundation, he said. The three-employee foundation helps West Virginians find jobs, buy food or get an education. Whittaker said the foundation has probably helped about 900 families, many of whom were checked out by private investigators first.

"He has also donated more than $7 million to three Church of God pastors in West Virginia and California…"

< Gaming News