PCH Winner Petrena H. Gets Surprised By Matt The Stat Man!
Hey folks, Matt the Stats Man here with a report from the road! We had so many PCH Winners in the month of July that Danielle and Howie asked me to lend a hand! I was tasked with surprising PCH winner Petrena H. in York, PA with $10,000.00 from our State of Play PCHlotto giveaway! As luck would have it, I went to school only a few minutes away from where Petrena lived, so it was nice to revisit the area.
I got on board my plane from New York for a quick flight and a drive, and I was there in no time! We arrived at Petrena’s home, but she wasn’t there! Her family answered the door and explained that she was at work. Remembering a trick that the Prize Patrol uses all the time, I asked them if they could call Petrena at work and tell her that there was a package that she needed to sign for. They called her up and gave the phone to me.
“At first I thought you were my brother, playing a prank on me,” Petrena later told me in a post-winning moment interview. “It was his birthday, so I thought maybe he was surprising me!”
Well a surprise was just about to happen, but not that! I asked her for the work address, and when I got to her job, I had her bosses ask her to come to the lobby.
My time with Petrena was very brief, and she basically ran away from the lobby after all the excitement died down. During our phone call, I asked her if it was just nervousness, but she said she had a job to do!
“Work was so busy! I work in the dispatch room and I was the only one there. That’s why I had to leave so quickly.”
After I finally left her, Petrena got around to calling her husband.
“I called my husband and he didn’t believe me. So, I sent him a picture of the big check, and he still didn’t believe me! I had to convince him! But now he believes. He enters all the time, but still had his doubts [that he’d win]. I keep asking him ‘well why do you keep playing?’”
Thanks to some coverage from the local newspaper, people started to send Petrena their well-wishes.
“My insurance agent called me. My accountant and his wife called. My old job called too. I went to the supermarket the next day, and I saw one of [my company’s] drivers. He was like ‘hey, you’re a local celebrity!’ It’s a month later and people are still saying something!”
Yes, it’s been a month since I left Petrena in York, PA, but it’s not only her neighbors who the winning moment left an impression on. Petrena herself is so grateful she’s a PCH Winner!
“Let me tell you, [before winning] I was out of a job for 3 weeks. So, this just helped a lot. I was able to put some in savings and catch up with the bills. I mean some people might think 3 weeks isn’t so bad, but it adds up.”
It’s such a great feeling to be able to deliver the prize to someone who needed the money so badly. And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer person either!
Matt the Stats Man
PCH Creative
P.S. Petrena is so glad she’s able to catch up on those bills! What’s a real need you’d use the money for if you won $10,000.00? Tell us in the comments below!
