Store donates $30,000 bonus from $847m Powerball ticket to food bank

A single lottery ticket sold at a New Jersey supermarket matched all the winning numbers to claim an $847 million Powerball jackpot. The win ended a run of 35 drawings without a jackpot winner. The winning numbers drawn on Wednesday evening, 4 November 2026, were white balls 15, 34, 41, 53 and 56, with red Powerball 21 and a Power Play multiplier of 2X. According to the New Jersey Lottery, the winning ticket was sold at Wegmans Food Market, located at 100 Farm View in Montvale, Bergen County. The supermarket will receive a $30,000 bonus from state lottery officials for selling the winning ticket. However, the store will not keep the money. Wegmans confirmed that the full $30,000 will be donated to the Community FoodBank of New Jersey through its Check Out Hunger campaign. The prize is the ninth-largest jackpot in Powerball history.

According to store manager Nick Tassi, who spoke to CBS New York, the winning ticket was bought on Tuesday morning, before the draw, using one of the supermarket's self-service lottery machines. As of Thursday afternoon, no one had come forward to claim the prize. Under a New Jersey law passed in 2020, lottery winners can keep their identities private indefinitely. This means the public may never find out who won the jackpot. The winner can choose between receiving the full $847 million as an annuity over 29 years, paid in 30 increasing instalments, or taking an immediate cash payment of $363.1 million. Both amounts are before federal and state taxes. "Congratulations to our newest New Jersey winner," said New Jersey Lottery Commission Chair Ian Leonard in an official statement released by the state lottery office.

Wegmans' decision to donate its $30,000 retailer bonus means the winning ticket will also provide immediate help to the local community, even if the winner does not come forward straight away. The donation will be made through the company's annual Check Out Hunger campaign. The campaign runs across Wegmans stores and raises money for local hunger-relief groups, including the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. The Community FoodBank of New Jersey is the state's largest organisation fighting hunger. It distributes food and provides support services across 15 of New Jersey's 21 counties. Lottery officials also pointed out that ticket sales provide significant funding for public services. According to the New Jersey Lottery Commission's official statement, lottery proceeds have contributed almost $35.7 billion to public programmes since 1970. Under a 30-year agreement signed by the state in 2017, the lottery's net proceeds go directly towards the public employee pension system.

The $847 million win is the second jackpot worth more than $1 billion in 2026, following a $1.04 billion Powerball prize won in Illinois on 12 August. According to figures released by Powerball, the biggest jackpot in the game's history remains the $2.04 billion prize won in California in November 2022. Millions of smaller prizes were also won across the country in Wednesday's drawing. These were awarded to ticket holders who matched some, but not all, of the winning numbers. After the jackpot was won, the advertised prize for the next Saturday drawing returned to $20 million. State lottery officials have advised anyone who bought a ticket for the 4 November drawing to check their numbers carefully. They also recommend signing the back of any winning ticket straight away. Winners in New Jersey have up to one year from the draw date to claim their prizes.