Less than a week after a ticket sold in Greenville won a $57 million Mega Millions jackpot, someone else has won a big prize playing the lottery in Eastern North Carolina. A retailer in Halifax County sold a Powerball ticket that matched all five white balls in Wednesday’s drawing to win $200,000. The store, called Parade on Main Street, is located on 201 Highway 158 East in Littleton.

The winning numbers for the drawing were 7-20-43-46-54, and the Powerball was 17. The N.C. Education Lottery advises winners to sign their tickets immediately to establish ownership, but reminds them they have 180 days from the date of a drawing to claim prizes.

The story is still unfolding around the $57 million Mega Millions jackpot ticket sold at the Kangaroo Express on Southeast Greenville Boulevard in Greenville. The ticket represents the fifth multimillion dollar jackpot winner in North Carolina history.

The state's first such jackpot winner, Jackie Alston, is from Halifax. She won $74.5 million in the Nov. 29, 2006 Powerball drawing. She elected to take the lump sum value of her jackpot prize, valued at $36.5 million.

From March 30, 2006 through June 30, 2011, Halifax County players won more than $76.5 million in prizes, boosted by Alston's jackpot win. Halifax County retailers have earned more than $5.6 million in commissions on ticket sales.

During the same time frame, Halifax County education programs received more than $11.9 million in lottery funds. By law, those funds have been used to pay for more than 69 teacher salaries, 798 slots for at-risk four year olds in prekindergarten, and 797 need-based college scholarships. Halifax County officials have decided how to spend more than $4.6 million in school construction funds.

To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has raised more than $2 billion for these education initiatives statewide.