Powerball jackpot: Syrian immigrant will get $1million for promoting profitable ticket at California gasoline station

Joseph “Papa Joe” Chahayed, 75, has been given $1 million of the $2.04 billion jackpot after he bought the profitable ticket at Joes Service Station in Altadena, Calif. Per the lottery’s guidelines, the retailer receives 0.5% of the jackpot, which is capped at $1 million. 

Chahayed is a Syrian immigrant who got here to the U.S. in 1980 along with his spouse and two youngsters; he has owned his Mobil gasoline station for 20 years. He obtained his share of the jackpot whereas sporting a “millionaire made right here” T-shirt and stated he plans to share his winnings along with his household and his 11 grandchildren. 

“All my life for them,” Chahayed informed the Los Angeles Occasions. “The cash is nothing — I give them my love.”

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“Seventy-five years previous, and he refuses to take a time without work… He’s up at like 5 a.m. daily. Nobody deserves it as a lot as he does,” stated his son Danny, who reportedly inspired his father to retire with the cash.

Nevertheless, Chahayed plans to proceed operating his gasoline station, a choice that comes at nice significance to the encircling neighborhood the place he is a well-liked fixture. 

One buyer and pal of Chahayed, Kenny Devine, stated: “Joe is essentially the most — bar none — pleasant individual that I do know… I gained the lottery once I met Joe, that’s how I really feel… The lottery of life.”

Chahayed himself expressed how a lot he cares for his neighborhood after changing into a millionaire: “I’m completely happy for California; I’m completely happy for L.A., I’m extra completely happy for Altadena. There are a number of poor individuals right here; they deserve it.”

Alongside Chahayed’s share of the prize, state faculties within the space may even obtain $156.3 million from the drawing.