DANVILLE, Va. (WRIC) — Siblings are often encouraged to share, and that’s no different with Jesse Perkins and his sister Mary Crider. The duo, who both live in the City of Danville, will be splitting a $1 million Mega Millions prize that they won from playing the Virginia Lottery.
Perkins and Crider bought the winning ticket at the Sunrise 6 located at 2120 Franklin Turnpike in Danville. The winning numbers, drawn on Sept. 20, were 9-21-28-30-52, and the Mega Ball number was 10.
“He told me we won, and I said, ‘Come on, it’s not April Fools Day!'” Crider said to Virginia Lottery officials.
“I had to look at the ticket a couple of times because I couldn’t believe it!” Perkins said.
The siblings often play the Mega Millions together when the jackpot passes the $200 million level. In the Sept. 20 drawing, the jackpot hit an estimated $277 million, and one of the tickets the siblings purchased matched the first five winning numbers — missing only the Mega Ball number — and resulted in a win of $1 million.
Crider and Perkins’ winning ticket was one of only two in the country to yield a $1 million prize, according to Virginia Lottery officials.
As for what the siblings plan to do with the money, Perkins said he would like to donate to his favorite charities and Crider said she hopes to travel.
According to the Virginia Lottery, the odds of matching the first five numbers in Mega Millions are 1 in 12,607,306, while the odds of matching all six numbers to win the jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350.
All Virginia Lottery profits go toward the commonwealth’s K-12 school system. In the 2022 fiscal year, the Lottery raised more than $779 million for K-12 education, which translates to approximately 10 percent of the state’s total K-12 school budget.
