LUCKY IN TRENTON
Another Trenton resident hits top prize in a New Jersey lotto game
TRENTON >> When Dawn Jones showed up to her two nursing jobs after winning a $7 million lottery jackpot, she got some glares from her co-workers.
“They were looking at me like, ‘You still working here?’” Jones joked at New Jersey Lottery headquarters on Thursday. “They probably said she needs to be evaluated.”
Jones, a Trenton resident, won the CASH4LIFE jackpot prize, which is $1,000 A Day for Life, on Aug. 8 and opted to take the $7 million cash payout. After taxes, she will receive a net prize of nearly $4.7 million.
Jones said she checked the numbers on an app after coming home from work and couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“I had heart palpitations,” she said. “I play to win but I never thought that I would win.”
Jones has played the same numbers since 2003. She said it is a combination of her birthday, her daughters’ birthday and “somebody else’s birthday.”
“It’s been a long time coming,” the mother of two said.
Born and raised in Trenton, Jones said she left the city in 1998 and has been back since 2011. Currently living in “not a great location,” Jones said she was moving Thursday to another residence in the local area.
Showing her hard work ethic and dedication, Jones works full time at the Kindred Hospital in Rahway and part time at Ancora Psychiatric Hospital in Hammonton, working anywhere from 44 to 60 hours a week between the two jobs.
“I’m still working both jobs,” the registered nurse said. “I plan to stay a multimillionaire.”
Even after she won, Jones went to work the next day.
“It’s a hardship if we call out,” she explained. “It just didn’t seem right.”
With her winnings, Jones has so far paid off her student loans and plans to pay for her daughters to go to college. She said she wants to travel to Dubai, Hawaii, Africa and the Grand Canyon.
Trenton has been a hot spot of lottery winners lately. In May, the Smith family, of Trenton, took home a winning Powerball jackpot of $429 million.
Though the capital city is a close-knit community, Jones said she did not know the Smiths.
Jones purchased the winning ticket at Krauszer’s Food Store in Rahway. The owners of the store received a $30,000 check for selling the winning ticket.
The nurse became the fifth top prize winner of CASH4LIFE in the Garden State while eight New Jersey players received second place winners of $1,000 a
week, lottery Deputy Director John Custodio said.
Despite her win, Jones plans to keep playing.
“I still play those same numbers every week,” she said. “I don’t have to worry about anything now.”