After winning a $50,000 jackpot, Dennis Mahurin could’ve moved out of the tent he’s been living in for more than 20 years and paid for a major life upgrade. But the Illinois man isn’t making any grand plans.
Mahurin, who’s been living in the Bloomington homeless community since 1978, was shocked when he scratched off the winning ticket, but he quickly decided he’s staying put in his tent digs and will use some of the money to help others, CINewsNow.com reports.
"With all the other homeless people around here, I've made up my mind,” Mahurin told the news outlet. “I'm gonna give them each $100."
Those who know the nomadic do-gooder say he’s always been an upstanding guy.
“He is a great guy, has an awesome sense of humor,” Sandra Rankin, an employee at the gas station where Mahurin bought the ticket, told ABC. “I care deeply for him and he is a very decent gentleman. He comes into my store three to four times a day.”
While some say that taking home the jackpot also comes with a curse, other down-and-out winners, like Mahurin, have shown that it’s possible to put the newfound cash to good use.
After a homeless man in Greenville, S.C. won $200,000 from a scratch-off lottery game in October, he told officials that he planned on using the cash to take care of himself and his family, Greenville Online reported.
“This will put me where I need to be," the man who declined to be identified, told Greenville Online.
WATCH:
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated where Dennis Mahurin is from.
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