Make wishtv.com your home page

North Carolina neighbors donate lottery winnings to family burned out of home

CLAYTON, N.C. (WNCN) – A billion dollar dream for nearly 200 folks in a Johnston County community has turned into an act of kindness after a fire hit a family in neighborhood.

“Everybody was excited about trying to win the billion plus dollars,” Ryan Allen, of Clayton, said.

They were so excited that 182 people in the Clayton neighborhood of Riverwood each put in $10 each. With more than $5,000 in hand they bought several lottery tickets, which they hoped would up their chances of winning.

They didn’t win $1 billion, but they did win over $300, which they decided was just too little to divvy. Their plan? Donate it.

Days later, in the same community, Clayton firefighters responded to a fire at a home on Woodson Drive in the Riverwood neighborhood. The fire gutted the home.

“I thought we didn’t have anything,” Isaiah Johnson said.

10-year-old Isaiah, his mom and younger brother weren’t home at the time, but their belongings were destroyed.

So with the $366 dollars from the lottery, “we decided to give her all the money that was left over from the winnings,” Allen said.

Besides the money, community members donated clothes, food and school supplies to the mom, who was at work when the fire broke out.

For a tight-knit community, they didn’t think twice about it.

Ryan Allen’s son Jacob, and best friend to Isaiah, said, “It felt great. Great to help my friend out.”

Allen added, “hopefully help them get back to some form of normalcy in their lives and try to help them rebuild from pretty much a total loss of everything they own in their home.”

For Isaiah and his family, they couldn’t be more thankful.

“I was just really grateful. At first I thought we lost it all and then we got some new stuff.”