The Region : Mrs. Lucky Wins $1-Million Sweepstakes

A Rancho Palos Verdes woman won $1 million in the McDonald’s Southern California Millionaire Sweepstakes, but she may have had an unfair advantage--her last name is Lucky. Barbara Lucky said she never expected to win the contest, which she entered to pass the time while her son, Branden, ate lunch. But her husband, Fred, had been more optimistic. “It’s all in the name,” he said. “With that name I knew we had a chance.” Barbara Lucky, 36, said she would donate part of the money, paid at the rate of $33,333 a year for 30 years, to the Ronald McDonald House, where children stricken with cancer can stay with their parents during treatment. The rest will help pay for her two children’s education, she said.