$1 million Mega Millions winner in suburban Bartlett shares incredible plan for prize – NBC Chicago

A suburban Bartlett man is the proud ticket holder who won $1 million in Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing, but he’s far from the only one to claim the cash prize.

Donald Gant told NBC Chicago he rarely stops at the BP gas station near Route 59 where he bought the winning ticket Tuesday, but said he had a good feeling about the drawing.

“I said ‘hey, you know, the lottery costs over a billion dollars,’ so I said ‘hey guys, let’s get together, let’s try to see if we can win.'”

That’s exactly what he and 39 other colleagues did, turning a ticket into a million-dollar prize by matching five of the drawing’s numbers.

Needless to say, Gant was skeptical about winning when his colleagues started texting him.

“My phone kept working all morning,” he said. “All my colleagues kept calling me, ‘Don, we won!’ We won!’ I’m like guys…get out of here.

Gant returned to the gas station Wednesday to meet with an Illinois Lottery representative to verify the ticket, but more importantly, to thank the employee who sold it to him.

“I feel lucky, too, to have given someone a million dollars,” said Navi Dhillon, who sold Gant the ticket.

Gant says he will split the lottery prize equally among all of his colleagues, each receiving $25,000.

“I’m really happy for the people I work with. They are such a strong unit and it’s such a blessing when you have something to share,” he said.

So the $25,000 question is what Gant plans to do with his part.

“First of all, I will donate my 10% to my church,” he said. “I have a grandson, my first grandchild, so I have to put something aside for him. And my son and his wife are working on buying a house, so we can all help. »

The gas station will also receive a bonus for selling the winning ticket, meaning dozens of Bartlett residents are feeling a little luckier Wednesday.