Beachwood, N.J. (AP) - A lottery-playing tradition started by the matriarch of a large New Jersey shore family paid off for her 17 children this week when the group won a $20 million jackpot that will partly be used to help family members recover from 2012's Superstorm Sandy.

"I said to myself, 'This couldn't have come at a more perfect time,'" Faith Schiabor said, describing a call she received from her sister, Sigrid Endreson, who held the winning ticket for the Pick 6 prize.

At a news conference at a community center Thursday, jokes and jocularity mixed with some tears as the siblings described their struggle to recover from the widespread damage brought by Sandy to the Toms River area.

John Endreson, 69, became emotional when he described rebuilding his home after Sandy ripped through.

"The hardest part was seeing other people that were devastated," he said. "I was able to redo my house and help my family and my brothers. I was quite fortunate. I just feel so lucky. And this is just the icing on the cake."

Sigrid Endreson said she bought the tickets and forgot about them for about two weeks before going down to a supermarket to check the numbers. When one came back with the message "See cashier," she ran it through again before taking it up to the window and getting the good news.

"I started to cry," she said. "I called my sister to come get me. I didn't think I was going to make it."