RALEIGH – Emma Garrett, a resident of Raleigh, says she will use the $100,000 she won playing the N.C. Education Lottery’s 10X the Money game to pay bills and take a vacation.

Garrett scratched off the lucky ticket at the Wake Forest Road BP on Wake Forest Road in Raleigh, where she made her winning purchase.

“I saw the one and the zero and thought I’d won ten dollars,” Garrett said. “Then I saw those zeroes. I just kept counting them over and over. It’s unbelievable.”

After taxes were withheld, Garrett received a check for $68,001. Garrett said that 10X the Money was her favorite game to play because there are a lot of prizes.

“We’re going straight to the bank,” Garrett said as she held her check for the first time.

From March 30, 2006 through June 30, 2011, Wake County players won more than $277.6 million in prizes and local retailers earned more than $37.3 million in commissions on ticket sales.

During the same time frame, Wake County education programs received more than $145.8 million in lottery funds. By law, these funds benefit specific programs. More than $59 million paid for salaries of 1,187 teachers in grades K-3; more than $15.2 million provided 3,985 prekindergarten opportunities for at-risk four year olds; and more than $11.8 million went to 9,820 need-based college scholarships. Wake County officials decided how to utilize more than $59.7 million in school construction funds provided by the lottery.

To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has raised more than $2.1 billion for these initiatives statewide.