KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An unexpected victory took a KC woman by surprise this holiday season.
Arlene Mathews says she entered Oprah's 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway a few weeks ago, but never believed she'd actually win the $16,000 prize.
She says she didn't even think the email confirming her win was real.
"I looked at the email and I thought, 'O.K., this is another one of those scams and I thought about deleting it," she said "I was not convinced."
She says she only started trusting it was real when she got a tracking number and finally started getting boxes of the gifts - all 112 of them.
"Oh, boy! I actually did win!" she said. "I think that's when I first started smiling. Look at all this stuff!"
As she picked up items and explained what they were, her first thoughts about them weren't about how she could use them, but how the gift could make a difference to someone else.
“I’m going to give the most of this away. I just feel so blessed to have won it and have the ability to share it," she said.
Besides a couple bottles of truffle oil and a few cosmetics, nearly every item will be given to neighbors, colleagues, and family.
“Now, I will just spread the joy," she said.
