"I earned a criminal justice degree from last spring," she said. Last, but not least, Whitman says she plans to make an investment in her future. Her only certain expenditure will be to help her parents cover their household bills and mortgage payments.Īfter that, she might book a trip to Europe next summer. It's a lot of money but not enough to live off of for years, so I still need to work and make money." "I'm not going to do anything materialistic or extravagant," she said. Whitman said she knows she'll end up paying a good chunk of her big win in taxes, but she'll still take home more than she would have earned in 10 years from her part-time job as a cashier at Panera Bread on Concord Pike or her second part-time gig as a nanny.ĭespite her windfall, Whitman says you won't catch her driving around the neighborhood in a Ferrari any time soon. It's just incredible to know you're helping to change someone's life like that." "The entire store is excited, and I think it's great for the whole community. "It was surreal," Berman said of awarding the prize Friday afternoon. She also posed with an oversized check, along with store director Mitch Berman and Kim Gray, senior vice president of merchandising and marketing for Acme.īerman said he found out about Whitman's win when he came to work last week to find a half-million-dollar check in the store's safe. Whitman went to the Prices Corner grocery store Friday with her parents and three brothers to claim her prize. Pat Woerheide of Granite Run, Pennsylvania, won a $50,000 prize in March. Whitman is the first Delaware resident to win a major prize as part of the nationwide contest, which is offered at 1,200 grocery stores owned by Acme's parent company Albertsons-Safeway. That triggered a random, second-chance drawing for $500,000 held on June 19.Īnd it was Whitman's name who was selected out of more than 50 million online entries and more than 130,000 mail-in submissions. Whitman and her mother never collected enough game pieces to qualify for a prize, but she did enter online for the $5,000 weekly drawing.Īfter the four-month contest ended in May, no one came forward to claim one of the top six prizes by the June 9 deadline. While the board game requires players to collect property, contestants in the Acme version try to amass four to six games pieces that match various prizes, ranging from $5 gift cards to Apple iPads, romantic weekends, jet skis and a grand prize of $1 million in cash. The promotion – now in its second year – awards customers packets of four game pieces for each purchase, along with coupons and entries into a weekly online drawing for $5,000. Whitman said her mom, Yvonne, came home from a shopping trip a few months ago with some of the game pieces from the grocery store chain's Monopoly contest. "She shops at Acme all the time, and she's the whole reason I won." The 2009 Thomas McKean High School grad said her mom instantly broke down in tears when Whitman told her the news. "But after a few more phone calls and some emails, it started to feel a little more real." "I didn't even tell my parents at first," she said. Whitman initially mistook the phone call informing her of the grand prize award as a prank or scam. "I was shocked when they first called to tell me," she said. The 24-year-old Pike Creek resident recently won $500,000 as part of Acme Market's Collect & Win Monopoly Game. Kelsey Whitman doesn't own any hotels on Boardwalk Avenue, but she could buy a house there if she wanted. Watch Video: Pike Creek woman wins $500k in Acme Monopoly game
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