A retired grandmother who has wrapped up much of her Christmas shopping this year now can cross off $10,000 off her own list.

68 year-old Alma Carpenter of St Joseph was handed the grand-prize in the Shop St. Joseph program Tuesday morning.

Shop St Joseph encourages shoppers to pick-up their gifts locally, by receiving tickets that can be used in the drawling.

Carpenter was excited, she said, when she and her family found out, even if some members didn’t believe she won at first.

“my heart started beating real fast,” Carpenter said.  “I had to get a hold of someone, I was calling everyone imaginable.”

It’s the first time she’s ever won anything like this in her life, Carpenter said.

The winning ticket came from J.C. Penney where Carpenter received more than 75 tickets for the drawling.

Carpenter already bought quite a few things for Christmas, but said she now plans to buy more for her family, including eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.  She also plans to pay off one bill.

The program continue’s to grow year after year, St Joseph Metro Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Ted Allison said.

“You know we are very pleased,”  He said.  “This year we had a significant increase in the number of participating businesses and so we also saw and increase in the number of tickets distributed.”

Don’t throw away the tickets just yet.  The first ever second-chance winners will be announced Tuesday afternoon.