Acts of Kindness
Teacher gets laid off after 20 years, wins the lottery just before Christmas
He also lost his father a month after he got laid off.
Maxim Sorokopud
01.07.21

Like most people, Joe Camp struggled in 2020. But then he managed to win a life-changing amount of money in time for the holidays.

For 20 years, Joe Camp was a hardworking preschool teacher.

PxHere - Mohamed Hassan
Source:
PxHere - Mohamed Hassan

He taught in the same school in Charlotte, North Carolina all this time. Then coronavirus came to America.

Like many others, Camp found himself furloughed. He hoped that he would be back at work soon. But then the months dragged on.

In September 2020, he got terrible news. The school had no choice but to lay him off.

Pixabay - Geralt
Source:
Pixabay - Geralt

For the first time in two decades, Camp was looking for work. And he was doing so during a pandemic and the worst economy since The Great Depression.

Camp thought that things couldn’t get much worse. But then they did.

Just one month after Camp lost his job, his father passed away.

“I have a lot of friends and family that just told me to keep sticking in there, keep believing in myself.” – Joe Camp.

Naturally, Camp was at an all-time low. He hoped that things would get better.

Luckily, after months of searching, he was able to find work.

Wikimedia - Coolcaesar
Source:
Wikimedia - Coolcaesar

A car dealership hired him as a salesman. Camp’s passion was for teaching. But he knew that this would pay the bills.

Then something amazing happened.

One day shortly before Christmas, when coming home from work, Camp pulled in to his local gas station.

13WTHR
Source:
13WTHR

At the checkout, he decided to purchase two scratch-off lottery tickets. Outside the store, he scratched off the cards.

The first card contained no winnings. So he got to work on the second one.

13WTHR
Source:
13WTHR

To his amazement, he saw that this second scratchcard contained not just a prize but the grand total prize of $250,000.

With tears in his eyes, Camp ran back into the station to claim his winnings.

13WTHR
Source:
13WTHR

The station attendants, who knew Camp well, were so happy to see that he had won so much money.

“He was laid off because of covid, so he didn’t have any money coming in. It was great. I was happy for him.” – Gloria Henderson, Store Clerk.

13WTHR
Source:
13WTHR

Of course, Camp had to pay taxes on his winnings. Once the taxes were taken, Camp ended up with $176,876.

That’s still a significant sum of money, but naturally, it won’t last forever.

Camp has decided to spend the money in a way that will help his family.

He has purchased a home for himself and his daughter. He is also saving some of the money for his daughter’s education.

And Camp’s win has also benefitted the gas station that sold the scratchcard.

13WTHR
Source:
13WTHR

Ever since the win, people have been lining up to buy tickets from the store, hoping that they’ll find another winning ticket.

The store does have a history of handing out winning lottery tickets.

13WTHR
Source:
13WTHR

But the last major win before Camp’s ticket was around five years ago, according to Paul Clelland, who works at the store.

Hopefully, Camp will be able to get back into the career he loves before too long.

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