5 Lottery Winners Who Made Their Prize Money Count

Many lottery winners blow their jackpot in a blink of an eye - or a bit longer than that. For some, they end up worse off than they were before they won. However, the "lottery curse" apparently does not affect all winners, as some of those instant multi-millionaires have managed to maintain or grow their wealth and even put it to good use.

Brad Duke

Foremost among successful lottery winners is this Boise, Idaho native. Then 34 years old when he won $85 million, the first thing he did upon being declared winner was "hire a publicist, lawyer, and a team of the finest financial advisors who guided him on how to invest his money," The Huffington Post said.

Also, he took care of debts first, including that of his family, so there's no more payables to keep them up at night.

Allen and Violet Large

In 2010, this couple figured in the headlines for winning a cool $11.2 at the sweepstakes AND also donating most of it.

"When the pair, in their 70s at the time, received the money, they decided that others needed it more," Pop Sugar noted. "After setting up their family members financially, the Larges chose to donate the majority of their winnings to hospitals and other charitable organizations."

Gloria MacKenzie

This Florida octogenarian won a whopping $590 million, which she then put to good use. She doled out $2 million to her hometown's high school to fix its roof, for one. She also continued to reside in her modest home and has managed not to burn through her fortune in a jiffy.

Craig Henshaw

This guy didn't get carried away by his luck - worth $21.4 million - and managed to spend his fortune wisely. First, he splurged on a hotel room stay to help him take time to plan how to use his newfound wealth. Afterwards, he "set up education funds for his nieces and nephews, helped his cleaning lady return to school, and established scholarships at UWO, where he graduated from teacher's college in 2000," as noted by The Huffington Post.

Tom Crist

This $40 million jackpot winner from Canada, who won the prize at Calgary's lottery, decided to allocate his money to a trust fund so he can provide for himself in his senior citizen phase, as well as that of his children. He also had donations to charity in mind, saying that he wants to give all of his winnings to various charities, as well as people in need of funding.

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