Ruth Robinson hasn’t had an easy life. She has worked a variety of jobs to raise her four kids on her own. But this week things got a whole lot easier; she won a cool million dollars the New York State Lottery Sterling Silver scratch-off game.
Robinson said she worked at the Orpheum Theater for eight years, “doing pretty much everything you do in a movie theater,” and also worked for the Bank of America.
Robinson said she would be sharing her fortune with her children – three girls and a boy – and her eight grandchildren. She also plans to donate money to a variety of causes. She named the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) as one she wants to support. “I had a dog and several cats, and I still feel sad when I see pictures of homeless animals,” she said.
Not that she’s giving it all away. Robinson said she hopes to travel and to take it easy now that she can afford to.
There’s always a big ceremony for winners of large prizes in the lottery, and Robinson said she accepts that. “But I don’t really want to be famous,” she said. “It makes me kind of nervous.”
Robinson bought her ticket at the Speedy Mart at 317 Main Street. Nish Barot, who owns the store with her husband, Harry, said this was the first million-dollar ticket they have sold, and she’s thrilled.