June 30th began like most other Mondays for Neil Kroll, of Castle Rock, WA, but it ended far differently.
The Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes Prize Patrol team came to his door with a video camera, a bunch of balloons, and--oh yes--a check for one million dollars.
Kroll, a member of the Winlock Seventh-day Adventist Church was surprised, but kept his composure and gave all the glory to God. He also left little doubt about how he intended to use the money.
“When you win something like this, you don’t use it for yourself,” said the 58-year-old Weyerhaeuser Co. millwright from Castle Rock.
According to TDN.com, he said he wasn’t even planning to take himself and his wife, Melody, out for a celebratory dinner, saying there were leftovers of an Asian meal in the fridge that would go to waste if they didn’t eat them.
Pressed about how he might use the extra funds, he said he was "Going to pray about it."
“If the Lord allows you to win something like this … then there is a reason. There are people who must need a million dollars, and it’s not me. You don’t win this to use it for yourself.”
Kroll, who has lived in Castle Rock for 31 years, said he doesn’t remember entering the online sweepstakes. He said he was “shocked” and “surprised” when Publishers Clearing House representatives knocked on his door Monday. “The odds of winning something like this are like getting struck by lightning,” he said.
He still doesn’t know exactly what made him enter, he said. “Why I did it, only God knows.”
Publishers Clearing House is a private marketing company that sells magazine subscriptions and merchandise and is known for holding large cash sweepstakes. A computer-generated random drawing chose Kroll as the winner, but he has a humble gratitude toward his good fortune.
“Money is a tool. It does not make you [something]. If it does, then it’s in your mind and you’re deluding yourself. The love of money is evil,” said Kroll, who doesn’t own a television. Neil Kroll made it plain that he doesn't wish to be a media spectacle. “I’m not a person of interest. I’m just a regular guy.”
We appreciate Neil Kroll's humble attitude, and wish him and his family all the best.