A 21-year-old Santa Clarita woman who won $1 million on a Scratchers ticket from the California Lottery said she doesn’t know if it’s sunk in, yet — but there were a few people she wanted to help with her winnings.

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“I’m going to live every day like I never won the money,” said Lindsay Sharbutt, 21, of Valencia, who’s studying political science at College of the Canyons.

Sharbutt, who aspires toward a career as a political analyst, doesn’t plan on quitting her day job as operations coordinator at 211 Enterprises, a Valencia-based company.

“I won the ticket on Sunday, and I was at work on Monday,” she said.

But there are a few things she’d like to do with her $650,000 winnings, she said, which is about what was left from the $1 million prize after taxes were withdrawn.

Scratcher tickets don’t offer a 20-year option, so the winnings are paid in a lump-sum check.

Lindsay’s brother Dylan, who is serving in the Navy in Bahrain, is getting a first-class trip home when his unit is due to return to the United States, she said.

“I’m excited to be able to do that for him,” Sharbutt said. “It’s a 24-hour flight and he’s been in the Middle East for the last year.”

She’s already contacted Circle of Hope, a Santa Clarita Valley nonprofit that works with those battling cancer, about setting up a program with local school districts.

“I want to raise money and awareness,” she said.

The program would be aimed at helping children who are dealing with parents who have the illness.

“I’m in talks with them for what I can do financially and and volunteer-wise,” Sharbutt said. “I feel like I have the opportunity to do something now and I would be disappointed (if I didn’t).”

She also mentioned plans to move out to her own place, and was looking at apartments, she said.

Initially, Sharbutt thought she had won $1,000, she said.

“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t wait to pay off my credit card, I can’t wait to call my mom,’” she said. “And then I found out it was $1 million.”

Her mom didn’t believe her when she first told her, Sharbutt said.

“I called my mom and, at first, she goes, ‘No, you didn’t — if I drive down there and this is a joke…’”

Her mother remained in disbelief when she arrived at the Smoke 4 Less shop in Castaic, where Sharbutt purchased the tickets, because Sharbutt was so stunned she wasn’t really reacting to her own good fortune.

“And then she realized, it was real and she started crying,” she said.

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