Anonymous Powerball winner starts giving donations to charities
Attorney picks up check for unidentified client
“My client does not want any accolades; she does not want any credit. She just wants to do good things.”
William Shaheen
Attorney for unidentified Powerball winner
The mysterious New Hampshire woman who won a $559.9 million Powerball jackpot in January will donate up to $50 million of her winnings to charity, her lawyer says.
Lawyer William Shaheen is challenging the state’s contention that the woman’s name must be made public, but a judge cleared the way for the payment while the privacy case is litigated. Thus Shaheen picked up his client’s winnings, a $352 million lump-sum payout, in ceremonies Wednesday.
Shaheen also spent some of the money, handing out four checks totaling $249,000 to local branches of national charities Girls Inc. and End 68 Hours of Hunger.
“She knows there are so many charities that do good work and need money, but we want to start with these two,” Shaheen said. “She believes that if we raise good children, we will have a good country.”
Girls Inc. was issued a check for $150,000. Three separate checks of $33,000 each were issued to End 68 Hours of Hunger chapters in the cities of Nashua, Derry and Dover.
Girls Inc. partners with schools and says its focus is on the “whole girl.”
“She learns to value herself, take risks, and discover and develop her inherent strengths,” the group says on its website. Girls Inc., which began in 1864, also says 88% of its funds go directly to programming.
End 68 Hours of Hunger also partners with schools, focusing on the 68 hours children from low-income families experience between the free lunch they receive in school Friday and the free breakfast they receive in school on Monday.
The program puts “nourishing food in the hands of school children” to carry them through the weekend, the group’s website says. A weekend bag of food costs $10 and provides two breakfasts, two lunches and three dinners for the child — with some leftovers for others in the family.
Shaheen said there will be plenty more money distributed to more charities.
“My client does not want any accolades; she does not want any credit,” he said. “She just wants to do good things.”