November 04, 2015
After casting her ballot Tuesday, a South Philadelphia crossing guard was rewarded with the ultimate prize.
Bridget Conroy-Varnis walked out of the polling place at Fourth and Shunk streets shortly after 6:30 p.m. and was greeted with a $10,000 check, NBC10 reports.
The award was part of an election lottery initiative by the nonprofit Philadelphia Citizen to encourage local residents to become more involved.
"I would never think that would happen, down here, truthfully, never," Conroy-Varnis told NewsWorks. "I just seen my sister walk by, and she said, 'Maybe you will win.'"
She said she plans to donate some of the money, use some to pay bills and possibly buy a used car.
Larry Platt, of Philadelphia Citizen, said the location and time of the reward were selected at random using a computer program.
"We wanted to send a message that every vote matters," Platt told NBC10. "We were nervous that we’d be benefiting someone that didn’t need it. What a great recipient and great spokeswoman for voting. That’s what we want to do. We want to continually do things to up the level of civic participation because that’s what we need in this city."
Read more from NBC10 here.
