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Polis announces next round of vaccine sweepstakes winners

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by
Kyle Cooke
• Published on
Governor Jared Polis introduces Pete Vegas, who won the $1 million prize, as well as the next round of $50k scholarship winners.
Credit: Gov. Jared Polis, Facebook
News | Rocky Mountain PBS

DENVER — Governor Jared Polis introduced the third winner of the $1 million “Colorado Comeback Cash” vaccination prize Friday, June 18, as well as the next round of $50,000 scholarship winners.

Pete Vegas, who runs a family-owned food and agriculture business in Boulder, is the third of five winners. The first winner, Sally Sliger, is a health care worker in Weld County. Stephanie Ward was the second winner. You can read more about Ward here.

While he plans on taking a nice vacation, paying off some debts, and maybe getting his son a mountain bike, Vegas said climate change and the impact humans have made on the planet is a great concern to him, and that he plans to use most of his prize money to increase sustainability in his agriculture business as a way to lessen its carbon footprint.

Polis added that Vegas will “invest in growing the infrastructure for regenerative agriculture at his business and throughout the community.”

“It’s not a time today to be selfish or complacent,” Vegas said, “it’s a time to think of others as well as yourself and get vaccinated.”

Watch the full announcement below.

The $1 million prize is reserved for Coloradans ages 18 and up. But the kids can get in on the fun, too. Vaccinated Coloradans between 12 and 17 years old are eligible to win a $50,000 prize that will be put into a 529 savings account that can be used at any public or private institution of higher learning.

[Related: Colorado to randomly award $1 million to 5 vaccinated adults, and $50k to 25 vaccinated teens]

One of the scholarship winners announced June 18 joined Governor Polis’ press conference remotely; he was in Utah touring colleges.

Hannah, another scholarship winner, previously received an award at her high school for her work in helping students with their mental health during the pandemic.

Polis said the commemorative checks will make for good dorm room decorations.

The youngest winner of the $50,000 college scholarship is 13-year-old Levi, from Boulder. Polis said Levi was skeptical when he received the call notifying him that he won.

“He even at one point thought it might be part of a kidnapping plot,” Polis said, introducing him.

Read about the first five scholarship winners here. 

Kyle Cooke is the Digital Media Manager at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach him at kylecooke@rmpbs.org or on Twitter at @KyleACooke.

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