The Georgia Lottery Corp. recently announced record first-half profits for education. Georgia Lottery profits for the first half of fiscal year 2010 totaled $429,754,000, surpassing the previous record set last fiscal year by more than $8.49 million. It is the only traditional lottery in the U.S. to experience 11 consecutive years of growth in profits. Lamar County students, families and citizens have benefited from the Georgia Lottery’s success. Since the Georgia Lottery’s inception in 1993, 958 university system students have received more than $4.5 million from Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship; 176 private college and university students have received more than $771,000 from HOPE; and 2,203 technical college students have received more than $4.3 million from HOPE. More than $5.3 million has gone to Lamar County schools for Georgia’s Pre-K program, benefiting 1,293 students. The county has received an additional $1 million for capital outlay and technology initiatives. Lamar County businesses also have benefited with local lottery retailers earning more than $5.5 million in commissions. Lucky Lamar County residents have won more than $43.4 million. Many of those dollars have been reinvested into Georgia’s economy. Since its first year, Georgia Lottery has returned more than $11.4 billion to Georgia for education. All profits pay for specific educational programs. More than 1.2 million students have received HOPE and more than 1 million 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary pre-kindergarten program.
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