Fifteen UPMC employees are calling themselves the Million Dollar Miracles after hitting the PA Lottery this summer.
The friends won $1 million on the Mega Millions on July 28 after purchasing a ticket at the Nittany MiniMart along Route 6 in Smethport.
Each person received $48,600.
“This is the first time we won!” said Jackie Burdick, a spokesperson for the group.
“I was at a doctor’s appointment in Pittsburgh, when I saw on the news that someone won $1 million,” she said.
“Then a family member called me and said, ‘Someone in Smethport won! You better check your ticket.’ I was like, ‘I better check.’ ”
The group collected its commemorative check Wednesday from lottery officials at the MiniMart.
The store received a $5,000 bonus for selling the winning ticket.
Burdick said five co-workers started playing together 20 years ago and the tradition has grown. She typically is the person who collects the money from co-workers to play the lottery and said they made a last-minute decision to play that day.
When a ticket scanner lit up with the news that it was worth $1 million, Burdick was convinced it was wrong.
“I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, this can’t be real. I have to call these girls!’ ” she said.
“I was jumping up and down, screaming, yelling and crying. I think I’ll spend my portion of the prize on my kids, grandkids and a nice vacation.”
The winning ticket was part of a historic Mega Millions jackpot run which began April 21 and lasted through Aug. 8. In the end, it was worth an annuity of $1.6 billion, or $794 million in cash, and was won by a single ticket sold in Florida.
