A Bainbridge grandmother is all smiles after winning the lottery. Alvesta Hopkins, 67, played The Georgia Lottery’s Millionaire Mania and won a $1 million top prize.

Georgia Lottery winner Alvesta Hopkins is one of three south Georgia residents to win $1 million each. Hopkins, center, celebrated her lottery win with Kay Lowry of Norman Park, left, and Mary Tedder of Albany at the Georgia Lottery ’s District Office in Thomasville Thursday.

“I feel great. I’m so thrilled,” Hopkins exclaimed.

The grandmother of two purchased her winning ticket at Li’l Brown Jug , 417 N. Scott St. in Bainbridge. She scratched the ticket in her car.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I’ve always had lucky feelings, but this one was real.”

Hopkins considers herself a “jack of all trades” working as a delivery woman and floral designer.

She has no plans for retirement, she said. Instead, she plans to buy a new house and a new car.

“It’s a dream come true,” she shared.

Since its first year, the Georgia Lottery Corporation has returned over $9.9 billion to the state of Georgia for education. All Georgia Lottery profits go to pay for specific educational programs including Georgia ’s HOPE Scholarship Program and Georgia ’s Prekindergarten Program. More than 1 million students have received HOPE, and more than 860,000 4-year-olds have attended the statewide, voluntary prekindergarten program.