Kalispell woman wins $100,000 lottery prize

A Kalispell woman who works as a cook at the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls recently won $100,000 through the Montana Lottery.

Vonda Foster won the scratch top prize while playing the $100,000 Montana Silver game with a ticket purchased at Town Pump in Kalispell.

Foster said she was so excited to play she had to scratch off her tickets on the way home. After she verified that she won the top prize, she started alerting all of her family members.

She said she enjoys playing both scratch and lottery games, but this is her first big lottery win.

Foster plans to seek advice from a financial adviser before making any large purchases, but she has already planned a couple vacations, and the winnings will help pay for them. She reminds other players to “play responsibly.”

The “$100,000 Montana Silver” scratch game debuted March 4, 2013 with top prizes up to $100,000. The Montana Lottery was created by referendum in 1986. Since then, it has paid more than $483 million in prizes and returned about $217 million to the state of Montana.