20 CEDAR RAPIDS CO-WORKERS  $241 Million PowerBall® Jackpot Winners – 06/13/2012

20 CEDAR RAPIDS CO-WORKERS STEP FORWARD AS IOWA'S BIGGEST LOTTERY WINNERS

A group of twenty co-workers from the shipping department at a Cedar Rapids cereal plant stepped forward Wednesday to claim a $241 million Powerball jackpot, the largest lottery prize won to date in Iowa.

The group laughed that they had the worst-kept secret in the state, as word of their win in the June 13 Powerball drawing had spread like wildfire -- first through the Quaker Oats Co. plant in downtown Cedar Rapids where they worked & then very as quickly through the community.

"So, yeah, it is the worst-kept secret, I guess," they said. 

Al, 61, buys the tickets for the group & said they had only in the near past planned to tell a neighbor the nice news, only to learn that the neighbor already knew.

The group, which formed a trust calling itself The Shipping twenty, selected to get the jackpot as the lump-sum option of $160.3 million. Members of The Shipping twenty said they have played Powerball together for years, with each person chipping in $5 for tickets, but only when the jackpot was $100 million or higher. Each member of the group – 18 men & ladies – each will get about $8 million ($5.6 million after withholding taxes).

Lawyers for the group said that the members of The Shipping twenty need their individual names to stay confidential & intend to request an injunction to that effect, which is allowed under Iowa's Open Records law. The lottery believes the names are public & ought to be disclosed, but understanding the specifics of the law, the lottery has agreed to give the group ten business days to seek an injunction.

The group's winning ticket is the seventh overall in Iowa to win Powerball's large prize.

Al, who bought the group's tickets, said they has worked at the plant for  30 years & designs to keep working until Sept. one.

Members of the group range in age from 35 to 64 & all live in & around Cedar Rapids. All are long-time employees of the Quaker Oats plant & are members of Local 110 of the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union/United Food & Commercial Workers International Union. On the job, they ship out boxes of Quaker Oats cereal from the plant. At least 11 members of the group said they would retire after winning the prize. 

• Kelly, 54, has worked at the plant for 36 years & said they has not decided whether he'll retire. They was the group member who first realized they had won. Kelly said they saw the winning numbers on the lottery web-site the morning after the drawing & then had to check them several more times before they could think it. Then they started yelling for his co-workers. Kelly said they is thankful that the giant win can make a positive difference for Cedar Rapids, which suffered such immense losses in widespread flooding years ago. "We're in a position now as a group to work together somehow to make this a positive thing," they said. "This is positive all around."

"I feel bad for Quaker. It is a busy time of year so it is going to be hard on the blokes who are there, so I kind of feel sorry for them," they said. "I'll hang around as much as I can."

 other group members also shared their designs: • Denise, 52, has worked at the plant for  34 years, & said The Shipping twenty has a combined seniority of 686 years at Quaker Oats. "I'm such in a fog, it is hard to report everything," he said. "I'm shaking. It is hard to wrap your head around." Denise said he planned to make use of her winnings to help her adult children. He said her husband is & a member of the group & his last day at the plant is Friday.

For this particular drawing, Al bought their tickets at Hy-Vee, 5050 Edgewood Road in Cedar Rapids. of those tickets beat the odds to win the jackpot. Hy-Vee will receive a $10,000 bonus from the Iowa Lottery for selling the jackpot-winning ticket & store officials said the money will be shared on that front as well. Store Director Jamie Franck said that because Hy-Vee is an employee-owned company, workers at the store will see some of the store's bonus in their own bonus checks.

• Mike, 55, said they initially was deluged with text messages from relatives & friends. "I went in shock," they said. "But I made it through!" They has worked at the plant for  35 years, designs to keep working & will take some time before they makes any large decisions. "I think it makes my children be debt-free & that was my main aim," they said.

"That money will return to our employees," Franck said. "That goes straight to our bottom line, back to their bonus checks. So they'll reap in those rewards."

Source: Powerball