JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers CHECK IN HAND—"Bailout" winner Beril Hamsioglu, second from left, stands with her husband, Berk, left, and son, Mert. Representing the Simi Valley Town Center are, left to right, Brad Anderson, Leticia Wilson and Norm Jackson. In the wake of billion-dollar federal government bailouts, the average citizen is left wondering, who's going to bail out the American family?

The Simi Valley Town Center answered that question this week with a bailout plan of its own: It awarded a local family $2,500.

Beril Hamsioglu, 33, accepted her giant check from the mall on Monday.

"I'm not a lucky person, so this is very surprising," she said.

The stayathome mom entered the Town Center's "Credit Card Bailout" contest three times in all. The onsite promotion ran from Jan. 2 to 18 and received nearly 2,000 entries, said Leticia Wilson, marketing director for the mall.

Hamsioglu first entered the contest when she took her 3year-old son, Mert, to the mall for a train ride. Just a few weeks later, she received the news— via email and a phone message—that she'd won, but she didn't believe it.

"I thought maybe this e-mail was spam," she said.

Her husband, Berk, was also shocked.

"We never believed in these kinds of lotteries," he said. "We always entered but we never won. So we started this year with a very nice surprise."

Originally from Turkey, the Hamsioglus have been Simi residents for a year, and actually live behind the mall in the Archstone Apartments.

Berk Hamsioglu, the only source of income for the household, said the "bailout" money will definitely help his family.

"My company is also having hard times this year, and they have decided not to give any salary raise this year," said Berk, who works for Agilent Technologies as a contractor at Amgen in Thousand Oaks. "So we've had to limit our expenses."

The couple plans to use most of the contest winnings to pay off some debt.

"I'm planning to pay my credit card bills first," Beril said, "and then I'll do some more shopping with the rest. And then we're going to dinner to celebrate."

She also hopes to use some of the money to buy a Valentine's Day gift for her husband, new clothes for her son and perhaps a pair of shoes for herself.

—Carissa Marsh