11, 33, 44 and 67: these figures brought luck to a former American Minister of Agriculture, allowing him to win $ 150,000 in the lottery, the organizers of the game announced on Monday. Tom Vilsack, former Minister of Agriculture of Barack Obama, went on Monday to the headquarters of the Iowa Powerball lottery to recover his prize.
" When the Powerball prize pool reaches more than $ 250 million every now and then, I say to myself" why not? "I have the right to dream like anyone else ," he said, according to a press release. published on the lottery website. His ticket, purchased from a supermarket in the city of Waukee, had four of the five winning numbers from the January 22 draw. On that day, the total prize pool reached $ 347 million.
The former governor of Iowa said he had " forgotten " his ticket and hadn't thought about looking at the results for several days. " I know that the chances of winning are minimal and that the money is used for education, veterans or goes back to the state budget for natural resources or infrastructure, and all the other good initiatives organized by the lottery. I thought it was a good contribution, "he added.
Tom Vilsack already has a clear idea of what he wants to do with the thousands of dollars dropped from the sky. A church " will receive part of it (...) I will send this check today, " he said. " The children will also receive part of it " and " the rest will be donated to my banker, " he continued.
The former minister, now president and CEO of a milk producer lobby (US Dairy Export Council), said he still has a large mortgage to repay.