LANSING, February 14, 2008 - Donald Ponagajba purchased his lucky Mega Millions ticket minutes before the drawing took place on Feb. 5. He's glad he did because he matched the first five numbers, without matching the Mega number for a $250,000 prize!

The 54-year-old heard someone that purchased their ticket at 7-11, 29265 Dequindre Rd., in Madison Heights had won big. Until he actually went in the store to have it verified, he didn't know he was holding on to the lucky easy pick ticket!

This is the largest win to date for the Madison Heights man. He plans to invest his prize money.

Mega Millions is a multi-state lottery game in Michigan, California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Wagers cost $1 each and tickets may be purchased at nearly 11,000 Michigan Lottery retailers statewide.

Over 95 cents of every dollar spent on Lottery tickets is returned to the state in the form of contributions to the state School Aid Fund, prizes to players and commissions to retailers. In fiscal year 2007, the contribution to schools was $748.9 million. Since its inception in 1972, the Lottery has contributed more than $14.3 billion to education in Michigan.

For additional information, please visit the Lottery's Web site at www.michigan.gov/lottery.

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