Firefighters help people for a living. So maybe it shouldn’t surprise anyone that, after winning a $141.4 million Powerball jackpot, retired firefighter Frank Griffin from Asheville used his good fortune to help others.
Griffin’s good luck started when he stopped for gas one day, but the Griffin family has built something to benefit the community in Candler, North Carolina for years to come. Where the Enka High School softball team once needed its own place to practice and play, a state-of-the-art softball facility now stands: Griffin Field.
After breaking ground on the project last August, Griffin Field hosted its first game last Thursday. The Asheville Citizen-Times reported that Olympic gold medalist Jennie Finch travelled to Buncombe County to help christen the field:
“It's just incredible for these young people, for these youth to aspire to one day play on this field,” said Finch, who helped Team USA win gold and silver medals in 2004 and 2008, respectively, before retiring last year. “It's facilities like this and people like the Griffin family who invest and inspire the future (players) to dream big.”
It has been just more than a year since Griffin’s “perfect ticket” won the jackpot in the Feb. 6, 2010 Powerball drawing. “For Enka softball, it’s a home run,” said Frank Fraboni of WLOS-TV in Asheville. “The Powerball has snowballed into something special.”
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