Kentucky coworkers win $50,000 from Christmas lottery tickets gifted by boss

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (TND) — A group of coworkers in Kentucky are $50,000 richer after their boss bought them lottery scratch-off tickets for Christmas.

Sheila Colter, a shift supervisor at Med Center Health Environmental Services, said she bought other gifts for her employees but they did not arrive in time so she grabbed some lottery tickets last minute.

"Our work Christmas party was early this year. I had ordered some items online, but they didn’t come in before the party," she told the Kentucky Lottery. "So, I decided to get scratch-offs instead."

Employees were gifted smaller price-point tickets at the party and some $30 tickets to share. The winnings from the $30 tickets went towards a $50 Millionaire Club scratch-off.

Soon after, the team doubled their money, winning the $100 that would score them their big win on the last two tickets.

"We kept playing as a group. There are 21 of us," Colter said. "I would stop on the way to work, and we kept winning."

Fourteen employees were around to witness the exciting moment that Colter said had her on the floor.

Colter and employee Winnie Beckham went to the lottery headquarters to collect their prize which added up to $35,750 after taxes. Each employee will take home around $1,750 after it is split 21 ways.

Colter said she plans to use her portion to finish Christmas shopping while Beckham is putting the money towards care for her mother's cancer treatment.

"I’m going to use it for my mom’s medicine," she said. "This will help a lot. And I will never forget this."