LOCAL NEWS
Fred Meyer in Auburn donates Powerball winnings to food bank
FILE - A display panel advertises tickets for a Powerball drawing at a convenience store, Nov. 7, 2022, in Renfrew, Pa. Someone in Washington state overcame steep odds Monday night, Feb. 6, 2023, to win an estimated $747 million Powerball jackpot. Lottery officials did not immediately make an announcement of a winner, but the Powerball website says there was a jackpot winner in the state. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
The Auburn Fred Meyer store that sold Monday’s $754.6 million winning Powerball ticket donated its share of the jackpot to a local food bank.
The store located at 801 Auburn Way N got $50,000 from selling the winning ticket and has donated the money to the Auburn Food Bank.
Lucky Auburn resident wins $754.6M Powerball prize
The donation was in honor of the company’s Zero Hunger | Zero Waste campaign to end hunger and eliminate waste.
“It’s always good to give back, and today, everyone wins,” Fred Meyer President Todd Kammeyer said in a statement. “In addition to this donation, Fred Meyer is giving $10,000 to the store for our associates to celebrate.”
The winning numbers — 5, 11, 22, 23, 69, Powerball 07 — were announced Monday night. We still don’t know who is holding Monday’s winning ticket or even if they know they have it.
Officials say this is the fifth-largest Powerball drawing since the game’s inception and the ninth-largest jackpot since the start of all lotteries in the United States.
Monday night’s win was the first Powerball jackpot win since Nov. 19. That winless streak allowed the prize to grow larger and larger until it stood as the ninth-largest in U.S. history.
The $50,000 donation translates to about 66,000 meals to the shared community.
Statistics show that one in 10 Washingtonians are at risk of missing a meal every day, according to Fred Meyer.
“Hunger and food insecurity are critical issues across the state, and partnerships like this one with Fred Meyer and QFC aim to shrink the numbers of people facing food insecurity,” said Debbie Christian, executive director of the Auburn Food Bank.
Edmonds School District internet outage disrupts seniors’ year
The state lottery office also reported that the $1 million Powerball jackpot from three months ago is still unclaimed, with three more months to go before the win is canceled.
That ticket was purchased in Airway Heights near Spokane.
Powerball is played in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The jackpot for the next drawing scheduled for Saturday night is $34 million, according to the lottery’s website.
