Louisburg, N.C. — Struggling to stay afloat in a sinking economy, Deborah Janifer works a double shift at her job at Britthaven Nursing Home in Louisburg.

"I work anywhere from 120 to 140 hours every two-week period," the mother-of-three says.

She works 16-hour days to help provide for her family and to help pay the bills, which includes college tuition for her oldest child.

Janifer and her family have had what she calls a rough year. Last April, her husband was laid off from his job and has been unable to find work.

So, the timing couldn't be better when her husband took her out for lunch Friday afternoon, and to her surprise, she realized she was a winner in a national sweepstakes competition.

The lunch was a set-up so Christopher Keyes, senior executive of the online shopping and sweepstakes company Jackpot Rewards, could award Janifer a $100,000 check.

"It's going to change our lives 110 percent," Janifer says.