Statesville Woman, 19, Plans College with $25,000 'Summer of Love' Grand Prize From Sheetz
Sheetz logo. (PRNewsFoto/SHEETZ, INC.)
ALTOONA, PA UNITED STATES
ALTOONA, Pa., Sept. 23/PRNewswire/ --Oh, sure, $25,000 buys a lot of soda, subs and snacks, and Samantha Shumake loves the selection of drinks and goodies at Sheetz. But the Statesville teenager has bigger plans as the grand prize winner in Sheetz's "Made to Order Summer of Love Fantasy" sweepstakes.
"I've got my college paid for now," said Samantha, who turned 19 in August. "Well, some of it. This will help a bunch." She said she is studying to become a teacher.
Samantha was one of 26,239 Sheetz customers across North Carolina who had entered the Summer of Love sweepstakes. To enter, customers merely had to sign up for a MySheetz Card between June 22 and August 21. MySheetz Cards are a great way to save money on gasoline purchases. Every time they visit a Sheetz store, MySheetz Card holders accumulate points toward discounts on Sheetz fuel.
Samantha signed up for her MySheetz Card in July at Sheetz Store #405, located at 1244 Wilkesboro Highway, near I-40 in Statesville. "I love that you can swipe your MySheetz Card, pump your gas and then go in and pay," she said. "The store is nice, it's clean and it has a big variety of stuff."
Samantha is a sophomore at Mitchell Community College in Statesville and works part-time waiting tables and running the cash register at Julia's Talley House, the family-style restaurant her parents operate in Troutman, N.C. She had finished her studies for the day and was at a friend's house when her sister Lindsey called her cell phone on September 15 to report that an urgent-looking package had arrived.
"I was like, 'Lindsey, you've got to open it!'" Samantha said. "So she read it to me. I didn't believe her. I was like, 'What? Are you serious?' It was a huge surprise. Before then, the biggest thing I'd won was maybe a bingo game or something like that."
So does she plan to hold back at least a little of her winnings to spend on something more immediate? "I don't know," she said. "I haven't decided. I've thought about it, but I don't know what I want. I can't think of anything."
Besides Samantha's grand prize, Sheetz also gave away seven prizes of $1,500 each:
Mindy Tedder, Winston-Salem
Brian Cobbs, High Point
Valeana Stephens, Weaverville
David Hayes, Trinity
Jill Baldwin, Knightdale
Pete Muhaluk, Statesville
Paul Wojciechowski, Greenville
During the "Sheetz Summer of Love" campaign, lucky winners also were treated to free tanks of gas, concert tickets and other prizes.
"The Summer of Love has really been a lot of fun," said Louie Sheetz, executive vice president, marketing, Sheetz, Inc. "Our customers love our fresh, made-to-order sandwiches, our great selection and our low prices. It's people like Samantha Shumake and all the other winners who make us what we are - and we like to give the love right back."
Established in 1952 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Sheetz, Inc. is one of America's fastest growing family-owned and operated convenience store chains, with more than $4.9 billion in revenue for 2008 and more than 12,000 employees. The company operates more than 350 convenience locations throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina. Sheetz provides an award-winning menu of MTO(R) subs, sandwiches and salads, which are ordered through unique touch-screen order point terminals. Sheetz currently ranks 82nd on the Forbes list of largest private companies, and has ranked for seven consecutive years on the list of Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania. All Sheetz convenience stores are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. For more information, visit www.sheetz.com.
