RALEIGH – Steven Williams of Clinton, a retired Army sergeant, says the lucky instant ticket he picked up Tuesday at a convenience store in Broadway was just waiting for him.

Williams said he was on his way to visit his father when he stopped at the Kangaroo Express on U.S. 421 South in Broadway to get gas and buy a lottery ticket. He said he scratched the card after leaving the store and saw he had won a $5 prize. Three hours later, on his way back home, he stopped at the same store again to collect his prize and the clerk gave him a new $5 ticket. When Williams got home, he scratched off the new ticket and discovered he had won the game’s top prize of $100,000.

“I think the ticket was meant for me,” Williams said Thursday as he collected his prize. After taxes were withheld, Williams received $68,001.

Williams said he planned to pay off his car and then invest most of the rest for his retirement.

As of Thursday afternoon, three more top prizes remain to be claimed in the $100,000 Treasure Tree game.

From March 30, 2006 through June 30, 2011, Sampson County players won more than $27.7 million in prizes and local retailers earned more than $3.5 million in commissions on ticket sales. During the same time frame, Sampson County education programs received more than $16.8 million in lottery funds. By law, these funds benefit specific programs. More than $4.9 million paid for 100 teacher salaries in grades K-3; more than $4.6 million provided 1,218 prekindergarten opportunities for at-risk four year olds; and more than $900,000 went to 838 need-based college scholarships. Sampson County officials decided how to utilize more than $6.2 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.