More than $713 MILLION transferred to education!
Columbia, SC: January 7, 2005 marks the South Carolina Education Lottery’s (SCEL) 3rd Anniversary! This past year showcased record-breaking sales, exciting promotions, fun games and strong play responsibly messages. However, education is the true reason SCEL is celebrating!
“To put a face on our state’s lottery, I think of over 300,000 lottery scholarships, millions of dollars to fund research at Clemson, USC and MUSC, $276 million for the public schools and millions more for our county libraries; this is the heart of what we do at SCEL,” said Ernie Passailaigue, SCEL’s Executive Director.
Here are some highlights of the educational programs receiving lottery dollars (January 7, 2002-05):
• K-12 programs received more than $266.7 million in appropriations.
• More than $534 million has been appropriated to Higher Education.
• More than $8.2 million has been appropriated to Public Libraries.
Additional SCEL highlights include (January 7, 2002-05):
• Transferred more than half a billion dollars to the Education Lottery Account.
• Since launch, total lottery ticket sales exceeded $2.4 billion.
• Players won more than $1.4 billion.
• State income tax collected on winnings over $500 totaled more than $18 million.
• Debt Set Off collections totaled more than $200,000.
“Our retailers and staff have worked extremely hard to reach these record-breaking sales levels,” said Passailaigue. “We are confident we will once again meet the state’s transfer goal of $243 million for this fiscal year.”
Other SCEL milestones in the past year (January 7, 2004-05):
• Partnered with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) in the national AMBER Alert program.
• Increased Carolina 5 draw dates to three times a week.
• Launched a new play responsibly advertising campaign which featured local sports figures.
• Launched the lottery’s first series of instant tickets featuring scenes from the Upstate, the Lowcountry and the Midlands by recognized SC artists.
• Printed the 100 millionth “3 Times Lucky” instant ticket, a game that was part of the original SCEL product launch in 2002.
• Awarded the Powerball jackpot for the third time in South Carolina.
• Launched “Education is Instrumental” program with a grant received from Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation to put instruments in Richland County Public schools.
• Awarded its first $1 million prize to a South Carolinian in the Carolina Millionaire ticket promotion.
• Launched Add a Play allowing players a chance to win up to $500 instantly when playing Pick 3, Pick 4 or Carolina 5.
• Re-launched Clean $weep, a partnership between SCEL and Palmetto Pride, with even bigger prizes from the Lennox Corporation! Clean $weep is an anti-litter initiative that encourages players to be environmentally responsible, while earning a chance to win a prize by sending non-winning tickets to SCEL.
What’s in store in the future for SCEL?
• A new five-digit game, Palmetto Cash 5, featuring a Power Up option allowing players to win up to $500,000, will begin in mid-February.
• A regional multi-state lotto game is currently being reviewed by SCEL and several other states.
• SCEL is on track to transfer its one billionth dollar for education sometime during fiscal year ‘06.
Columbia, SC: January 7, 2005 marks the South Carolina Education Lottery’s (SCEL) 3rd Anniversary! This past year showcased record-breaking sales, exciting promotions, fun games and strong play responsibly messages. However, education is the true reason SCEL is celebrating!
“To put a face on our state’s lottery, I think of over 300,000 lottery scholarships, millions of dollars to fund research at Clemson, USC and MUSC, $276 million for the public schools and millions more for our county libraries; this is the heart of what we do at SCEL,” said Ernie Passailaigue, SCEL’s Executive Director.
Here are some highlights of the educational programs receiving lottery dollars (January 7, 2002-05):
• K-12 programs received more than $266.7 million in appropriations.
• More than $534 million has been appropriated to Higher Education.
• More than $8.2 million has been appropriated to Public Libraries.
Additional SCEL highlights include (January 7, 2002-05):
• Transferred more than half a billion dollars to the Education Lottery Account.
• Since launch, total lottery ticket sales exceeded $2.4 billion.
• Players won more than $1.4 billion.
• State income tax collected on winnings over $500 totaled more than $18 million.
• Debt Set Off collections totaled more than $200,000.
“Our retailers and staff have worked extremely hard to reach these record-breaking sales levels,” said Passailaigue. “We are confident we will once again meet the state’s transfer goal of $243 million for this fiscal year.”
Other SCEL milestones in the past year (January 7, 2004-05):
• Partnered with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) in the national AMBER Alert program.
• Increased Carolina 5 draw dates to three times a week.
• Launched a new play responsibly advertising campaign which featured local sports figures.
• Launched the lottery’s first series of instant tickets featuring scenes from the Upstate, the Lowcountry and the Midlands by recognized SC artists.
• Printed the 100 millionth “3 Times Lucky” instant ticket, a game that was part of the original SCEL product launch in 2002.
• Awarded the Powerball jackpot for the third time in South Carolina.
• Launched “Education is Instrumental” program with a grant received from Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation to put instruments in Richland County Public schools.
• Awarded its first $1 million prize to a South Carolinian in the Carolina Millionaire ticket promotion.
• Launched Add a Play allowing players a chance to win up to $500 instantly when playing Pick 3, Pick 4 or Carolina 5.
• Re-launched Clean $weep, a partnership between SCEL and Palmetto Pride, with even bigger prizes from the Lennox Corporation! Clean $weep is an anti-litter initiative that encourages players to be environmentally responsible, while earning a chance to win a prize by sending non-winning tickets to SCEL.
What’s in store in the future for SCEL?
• A new five-digit game, Palmetto Cash 5, featuring a Power Up option allowing players to win up to $500,000, will begin in mid-February.
• A regional multi-state lotto game is currently being reviewed by SCEL and several other states.
• SCEL is on track to transfer its one billionth dollar for education sometime during fiscal year ‘06.
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