RALEIGH – William Luke Parker, a resident of Concord in Cabarrus County, has played the same set of Carolina Cash 5 numbers consistently over the past three years. His persistence finally paid off in the Dec. 1 drawing when he matched all five numbers, winning the $143,933 jackpot.
Parker learned of his win by looking up his numbers on the NCEL website while sitting at home. He purchased his winning ticket at the Carolina Fast Mart on U.S. 601 in Concord. After state and federal taxes were withheld, he received a prize of $97,875, which he said he may put into savings.
Since the lottery began through June 30 of this year, Cabarrus County education programs received more than $39.6 million in lottery funds. By law, those funds pay for teachers’ salaries, school construction, need-based college scholarships and at-risk prekindergarten programs.
To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has raised more than $2.1 billion for these initiatives statewide.