Oregon bartender has humble plans for $17.5K tip
Oct 8, 2013, 3:58 AM | Updated: 4:03 am
The Oregon bartender who won $17,500 off a Keno ticket given to her by a customer has big plans for her winnings: She wants to save it.
Aurora Kephart, 25, a bartender at Conways Restaurant and Lounge in Springfield, Ore., received two Keno tickets as part of a tip from a frequent customer on Oct. 3, according to ABC News.
She found out she had won the big prize while the customer, who preferred to remain anonymous to the media, was still in the diner. She tried to give it back to him, but he had her sign it before anyone else could claim it.
The next day, Kephart drove out to the Oregon Lottery office in Salem to reap her winnings. She then gave her good luck charm a percentage of the winnings, she said.
“I forced him to take it. I’m too humble for that,” Kephart said. “I absolutely just want to pay it forward. I don’t intend to keep all that money for myself.”
Other than donating some of her prize earnings to firefighters to benefit a muscular dystrophy charity, she said she hasn’t spent a dime.
“I have not bought anything, not shoes, not a T-shirt,” she said. “I have a couple of bills I’m going to pay off, but for the most part I’m just going to save it. I don’t want to blow money just because I came into money.”
Hear that, kids? It is still possible to have a good sum of money and not want to spend it all.
Kudos, Aurora.
