A giant check was presented to an area teacher Thursday morning who was the winner of the Shop St. Joseph Holiday program’s $10,000 prize.

The winning ticket was purchased at Hy-Vee by 31-year-old Bethany Jenkins, a kindergarten teacher from Troy, Kansas.

St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Membership Natalie Redmond said this is the first time the program has had a regional winner.

“(It’s the) first time we’ve had someone outside of the St. Joseph market win, which is kind of exciting because it means people in the region are shopping St. Joe, and first time Hy-Vee had a winner and we had a record breaking ticket year,” Redmond said.

Almost 1.7 million tickets were distributed this year. In 2016, 1.2 million were distributed. 

Jenkins was presented with a giant souvenir check for $10,000 Thursday morning at Hy-Vee, along with a real check to take to the bank. Jenkins said she shops in St. Joseph and at Hy-Vee regularly, as St. Joseph has the largest retail stores near Troy. She said she will most likely use her winnings to pay some bills and maybe go on a trip.

“She’s super excited to share the big check with her kiddos,” Redmond said. “She is going to buy every kid in her class a little something.”

Hy-Vee has been a part of the Shop St. Joseph program since it began ten years ago.

“I think (Shop St. Joseph) is something that keeps people shopping local,” said Mike Basch, Store Director. “For a lot of the businesses in town it keeps them coming into the store instead of going online and buying something. So I think it’s great just to keep our community and keep the business community growing.”

For a list of second chance prize numbers, click here.

If a shopper has a winning ticket for a second chance prize they must go to the store where they got the ticket to claim their prize.