TALLAHASSEE - The Florida Lottery announces that Lora Spires, 41, of Marianna, claimed a top prize of $500 a week for life in the $500 A WEEK FOR LIFE Scratch-Off game, at Florida Lottery headquarters in Tallahassee.
Spires chose to receive her winnings in a one-time lump sum payment of $398,811.03. She purchased her winning Scratch-Off ticket at The Avenue Food Store, located at 4195 Lafayette Street in Marianna.
The first LUCKY FOR LIFE-themed Scratch-Off game was introduced 17 years ago with the launch of WIN FOR LIFE, a $2 game. It performed so well that it was reintroduced in 1999 and 2000. In 2004, the $10 game SET FOR LIFE was launched, offering $5,000 a year for life top prizes. Later, the first $20 LUCKY FOR LIFE ticket offering $100,000 a year for life top prizes was introduced. Throughout the years the LIFE family has become one of the Lottery¿s best-selling families of Scratch-Off games
Scratch-Off games are an important part of the Lottery's portfolio of games, comprising approximately 60 percent of ticket sales and generating more than $575 million for the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund (EETF) in fiscal year 2012-13.
ABOUT THE FLORIDA LOTTERY
The Florida Lottery is responsible for contributing more than $26 billion to education and sending more than 650,000 students to college through the Bright Futures Scholarship Program. The Florida Lottery reinvests nearly 98 percent of its revenue back into Florida's economy through prize payouts, commissions to more than 13,000 Florida retailers and transfers to education. Since 1988, Florida Lottery games have paid more than $37 billion in prizes and made more than 1,300 people millionaires. For more information, please visit www.flalottery.com.