New lotto winner can now fix up her Callaway County house

The newest lotto winner comes from an unincorporated town in southern Callaway County.

And while her door is opened to many in need, her house itself needs some major remodeling.

Now she will be able to pay for it. Sherry Akers won $100,000 in the Missouri Lottery, she said Thursday.

“A couple days before, I was praying about some little things. I needed help, and didn’t even know what to pray for,” she said. “My house was falling apart.”

She stopped by the Short Stop store in Millersburg and picked up some lotto tickets.

“That was two days later — and I got this,” Akers added.

Akers said she typically doesn’t buy a lot of scratch-off tickets, but with some extra cash and the new “I LOVE LUCY” game out, she picked up four tickets for fun.

When those four tickets won her some money, she used the win to play four more. After winning again, she decided to stick with her new lucky number of four, and one of her four tickets this time revealed a much larger prize — $100,000.

“I thought I won $5,000, and I was jumping around in the parking lot,” Akers said. “We kept going and it was $10,000, $20,000 and then $100,000. I was crying like a baby.”

Akers explained her daughter had major surgery last year, which put much-needed house renovations on hold. Now, she plans to use her prize money to fix up her house.

“My daughter is more important than my house,” she said. “This has been a big blessing, and I owe it all to God.”

She even saved the penny she used to reveal her winning ticket to keep as a reminder. She also has a print of her lottery ticket.

Akers works security at the Callaway nuclear plant. She is a single mom and grandmother, and she has a house full of friends staying with her.

“I do what I can,” she said.