There is always light at the end of the tunnel and no woman from Ireland would allow an immediate financial event to change her lifestyle.
Marguerite Lugri was going through hard times. She didn’t have a job and was getting $100 a week in unemployment benefits.
Troubled times didn’t stop her from taking a chance on a lottery ticket. It has remarkably given up 95% of its profits after being a hit.
Really great.
Like the largest in the great Northern Ireland.
What did this $44 million lottery winner make out of her new $46 million winnings
The 48-year-old had visited the local employment center in Straban to find out about potential places to hire. On her way home, she checks out a shop near her home and buys a lottery ticket that will inevitably change her life.
Loughrey hit five numbers and two extras to hit the $46 million jackpot. Her winnings made her the most winning lottery in Northern Ireland. She says she usually didn’t have the extra cash to play the lottery often, but luckily she had a few extra pounds in her wallet for what ended up being her lucky day.
The millionaire eventually bought a ticket with numbers 19, 23, 27, 42 and 44 as well as two of the “Lucky Stars” numbers: 3 and 5. They ended up being the winning formation.
After going from meltdown to millionaire, a lot of people have been on an extravagant spending spree, but Lovey—who lives in a modest two-bedroom apartment—is not like most.
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Instead, she brought back most of them.
After the initial surprise wore off, Loughrey decided to move into a slightly larger house in her hometown and helped her family and friends financially. Having spent/kept $2 million for herself, she chose to use the rest of her earnings for her city and its residents.
She says she wants to “make a lot of people happy,” and her plans include funding the revitalized city of Straban by helping turn it into a destination for tourists and creating jobs for its 17,000 residents.
her thought process? “I know what it means to have nothing, and that’s why I give it up - I can’t pass up what I never had.”
What did the new lottery winner do to give back to her hometown
Loughrey immediately began giving back to Strabane by donating half of her earnings to charity.
Then it bought the historic Herdman’s Mill in the 62-acre city for $2 million and funded its renovation to turn it into a recreational place for locals and a tourist destination for travelers outside the Towers.
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The 46-year-old also purchased a vacant 22-acre plot of business in Strabane, which he hoped to turn into 80 jobs by turning it into a craft village.
Lovery says she’s been unemployed for more than half of her adult life — but not for lack of trying — and has always worked for minimum wage. As she is very experienced in making ends meet on a tight budget, she is determined to use her good fortune to help others who are in a difficult situation.
“Everyone has the right to work for a living, provide for his family, buy his own house, run his own business — these are things that everyone should have the right to do,” said Louvre. “People just need opportunities. There is a lot of talent in the Straban area – people just need to have a chance.”
Louvre became president of nine different projects throughout the city of Straban, all geared towards giving back to the city and its residents.
This is the perfect example of the old adage of never forgetting where you come from and how to always be humble, no matter what life throws your way.