LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A Garfield woman is $220,001 richer after splitting a recent Arkansas Scholarship Lottery jackpot.

ASL officials said Marites Chambers was one of two winners for the Natural State Jackpot drawing on July 28. The two winning tickets split the $440,000 jackpot for the game, the second-largest jackpot in its history.

Chambers said she regularly plays the lottery and picked up her Quick Pick play at the Village Market on Marshall Street. She noted that her first thought when she saw that she won was, “I have to protect this ticket.”

“I was so excited that I couldn’t contain myself,” she told ASL officials.

Chambers explained that she and her husband James plan on using the winnings on home improvements, bills and maybe a mutual fund.

Lottery officials noted that a second winning ticket was also sold for the July 28 Natural State Jackpot at the Kum & Go store located at 816 W. Monroe Ave. in Lowell. The ticketholder has until January 24, 2024, which is 180 days from the July 28 drawing, to claim their share of the prize.

In addition to the players winning big, the retail partners where the winning tickets were sold will each see a nice commission of 1%, or $2,200, for this jackpot.

“We are ecstatic that our first NSJ winner has claimed her prize, and we thank Village Market for being our retail partner,” ASL executive director Eric Hagler said. “With the help of our retailers across the state, we have funded more than 720,000 college scholarships totaling more than one billion dollars!”

Players still have a chance to hit it big with the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery. The Tuesday drawing for the Mega Millions game is worth an estimated $1.1 BILLION dollars, the fourth-largest ever prize for that game.

ASL officials say Arkansas students are the big winners, though, with state lotteries raising more than $1.2 billion in scholarship money since 2009, funding more than 720,000 scholarships around the Natural State.