Christmas dinner shopping trip yields $250,000 lottery jackpot

Dec. 26 (UPI) -- A North Carolina man making a last-minute stop for Christmas dinner ingredients ended up $250,000 richer for the holiday when he decided to grab a scratch-off lottery ticket.

Michael Rosenbrock, of Mint Hill, told North Carolina Education Lottery officials he was hosting this year's big family dinner, so he stopped at the Food Lion store in town to pick up ingredients for dishes, including ham, meatballs and stuffing.

Rosenbrock decided to buy a 20X The Cash scratch-off ticket at check-out, and he later scratched off the ticket at his living room table.

"I didn't think I won anything at first," Rosenbrock said. "It's a good thing I always enter my tickets into the second-chance drawings or I would have thrown it away. I couldn't believe it when I realized I won $250,000."

Rosenbrock collected his prize money Monday. He said he plans to use his winnings to fulfill his dream of starting a nonprofit.

"There are so many things that we take for granted," Rosenbrock said. "Clean water, food to eat, a roof over our head. Doing nonprofit work is something I've always wanted to do."