Jackpot Donation

If you won $70,000 in the lottery, do you think you could simply give it all away?

For a Michigan woman, the answer is an emphatic yes. This week, she kissed her unexpected windfall goodbye and simply placed the winning ticket in her church’s collection basket.

“I believe when you give it will be given back to you,” the anonymous donor told WILX in Michigan.

The woman who spoke on camera, but whose face was not revealed, donated the money to the Covenant Life Worship Center, a tiny church of just 25 parishioners in the town of Haslett, about 10 miles outside of Lansing.

She says she did it because church members helped her tremendously after a serious closed head injury four years ago. “The people at my church were so wonderful to me. I probably wouldn’t have made it through the last four years if it wasn’t for them. I probably wouldn’t be here,” she said, and shared that she is planning a move to Florida to enter the ministry herself.

Meanwhile, church members are rejoicing at their unexpected bonus. Pastor Marilyn Parmalee says stunned parishioners who confirmed the ticket was a winner called her to share the amazing news.

“They called me in the morning, so I danced my jig in the morning. They were all shouting, ‘hallelujah,’ ‘Praise the Lord’ and ‘are you kidding me,’" she said.

Parmalee and another parishioner redeemed the ticket Thursday and the church will receive the full amount of the money, no taxes deducted, because of their nonprofit status. The church is still deciding what to do with the money, but may use it to fund a mission to Africa.

They are probably still figuring out how to properly thank the donor who did such a selfless deed, a woman who might not be quite so financially well-off anymore, but is clearly rich in spirit.

Photo courtesy of upn via stock.xchang