Charles County Contractor’s Dismal Week Brightened by $500,000 Win

A Charles County man was having a great day Oct. 16. He had traveled to Lottery headquarters in Baltimore to claim a $500,000 prize and was feeling good about it.

But his good fortune was a new turn of events following a series of stress-inducing business issues.

“You should have seen me a few weeks ago,” he said after claiming his prize.

It was a few weeks ago when several things happened almost at once that put a lot of stress on the general contracting business he and a friend operate.

“The last few years have been tough for us in general, but then all that bad news in a couple of days really had me feeling low,” he said.

What started his rebound? A gift? No, it was a re-gift.

“My partner’s wife bought him a couple of scratch-off tickets, and to cheer me up, he gave me one of them,” the winner said.

The re-gifted $20 Gifts of Green ticket went straight into his briefcase.

“I was in no hurry to play it. I never do well with Lottery tickets,” he recalled.

When he did scratch it, his Lottery luck had changed dramatically, but he didn’t realize it at first. Although he read all of the game’s rules twice, he wasn’t entirely sure whether he’d won anything.

“I think that I was so down that subconsciously I refused to accept that something good had happened. It just felt too good to be true,” he said.

It wasn’t until a visit to a Lottery retailer confirmed his half-a-million-dollar win that any kind of positive reaction hit him.

“At first just a flood of relief,” he said. “And then gratitude for the good people I have in my life and this thoughtful gift from my partner.”

Gifts of Green debuted in October 2025 with seven $500,000 top prizes. One now remains unclaimed, along with one $25,000 second-tier prize. Kettering BP, the gas station where the winning ticket was purchased, receives a $1,000 bonus. The Anne Arundel County business is at 10604 Campus Way in Upper Marlboro.