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Stacey Fiore publicly came forward as the winner of $1 million from a ticket sold at Quick Stop inside the 7-Eleven on West Bay Avenue, the New Jersey Lottery said in a news release on Friday, Nov. 15. She chose Quick Pick numbers in the drawing on Saturday, Nov. 9.
Lottery winners in the Garden State can choose to remain anonymous but Fiore said she wanted to share her story.
"I like telling people," Fiore said. "I went to the bank and asked to speak to the manager. I said 'You know somebody won $1 million here in town? Well, that’s me!' She was super excited. It’s nice to celebrate."
Fiore works as a supervisor for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Staten Island in New York City. Her husband Greg is also employed by the MTA as a bus driver.
Stacey joked with her coworkers that they wouldn't see her again if she won. She said she forgot to check her numbers before going to work.
Stacey finally checked her numbers on the NJ Lottery's app on Monday, Nov. 11 and she couldn't believe what she saw.
"It said, 'Congratulations. You won a million dollars,'" she said. "I checked again and it said again that I won."
Still stunned, Stacey called her husband of 32 years who she lovingly made fun of by saying she doesn't trust him to check her lottery numbers. Greg verified that the only number she didn't match was the Powerball.
The winning numbers were 11, 24, 50, 56, and 66, and the Powerball was 16.
"I told him he better not be messing with me and did we buy real tickets?" Stacey said. "I was just in shock. You wait your whole life for this and you are still in shock."
Stacey became the 39th NJ Lottery player to win at least $1 million in 2024. Ten of the winners got their huge prizes by playing Powerball.
The Fiores said they don't have any major plans for their wings yet expect maybe a nice vacation.
"Our kids... they are happy for us but they do know Christmas is coming," said Greg.
Stacey and Greg also ended up returning to their MTA jobs even after finding out about the massive victory.
"Maybe no more overtime for me," Greg said.
"Oh, there’s still going to be overtime for you!" Stacey responded.
No one has won the Powerball jackpot since a ticket from Georgia brought home an estimated $478 million prize. The drawing was on Wednesday, Oct. 23.
The next Powerball drawing will be on Saturday, Nov. 16, and the jackpot rose to an estimated $130 million.
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