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Fort Valley man picks hearty $750K prize

ATLANTA — One lucky fast-food chain employee has won a sizzling Georgia Lottery prize worth three quarters of a million dollars. Willie Perry Jr. of Fort Valley won a $750,000 top prize playing the instant game Giant Jumbo Bucks – Anniversary Edition.

Georgia Lottery representatives presented Perry, 52, with an oversized check Wednesday at Family Food Mart, 402 S. Camellia Blvd. in Fort Valley, the store where he purchased his winning ticket.

“A friend suggested that I stop by the store, and I said OK,” said Perry, a shift leader for Hardee’s. “I was walking out of the store as I scratched it.”

Feeling wonderful over winning the lottery, Perry and his wife, Gloria, anticipate repairing their automobiles and buying a new house.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corp. has returned more than $14.8 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs, including Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia’s Pre-K Program. More than 1.6 million students have received HOPE, and more than 1.3 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.