Fond du Lac, Wis. – The organizers of a lottery pool at a cheese company were starting to get discouraged. They had tried good-luck charms for three years and even considered going to a different store to buy the tickets.
But then a worker suggested rubbing the belly of a Buddha statue, which some say will bring good luck. They set the statue on the tickets in a worker’s locker, and people went in to rub it.
Then their luck changed, as they won a $208.6 million Powerball jackpot in August.
“We don’t know if it’s the Buddha that brought us the good fortune to win this. We don’t know if it was our prayers to God that were answered,” said Mary Entringer, who organized the pool at Sargento Foods Inc. in Plymouth. “We’re just grateful it was 100 people, and we’re all going to share in this bounty.”
The winners, who call themselves the “100 Miracles,” turned in their Powerball ticket last Friday and plan to split the prize equally.
They bought the ticket at Ma and Pa’s Grocery Express in Fond du Lac. The store will receive $100,000 for the win.
Many said they plan to keep working at the factory. Most winners earn between $30,000 and $50,000 a year.
