Helen McKinnon, a retired daycare teacher from Fayetteville, is the second Cumberland County resident to win a jackpot prize playing Carolina Cash 5 this week. McKinnon won $139,065 in the July 30 drawing when her ticket matched all five numbers. McKinnon learned of her win the morning after the drawing when she and her fiancé read the winning numbers in the local newspaper.

“I picked the first one,” she recalled. “Then I saw I picked the second one. Then I looked and said ‘My gosh, I’ve got all the numbers’.” McKinnon plans to use her winnings, worth $94,564 after taxes, to pay bills and help with retirement. She purchased her winning ticket at the Kangaroo Express on Hope Mills Road in Fayetteville.

“It’s real,” McKinnon added as she held her check for the first time. “I’ve never really won anything before. I’m happy.” McKinnon is the 26th player in Cumberland County to win a Cash 5 jackpot prize.

This week’s first Cash 5 prize was claimed by James Moretz Jr. of Fayetteville. He won $369,616 in the Sunday, August 6 drawing and received $251,339 after taxes were withheld. The prize Moretz claimed is the largest Cash 5 jackpot awarded to a single winner anywhere in the state since two tickets split a $776,214 jackpot prize in the May 16 drawing. The largest Cash 5 jackpot in history, $1.35 million, was split between three tickets in the May 5 drawing.

From March 30, 2006 through June 30, 2010, Cumberland County players have won more than $120.3 million in lottery prizes and county retailers have earned more than $15.9 million in commissions on ticket sales.

During the same time period, Cumberland County education programs have received more than $62.4 million in lottery funds. By law, those funds benefit teacher salaries, school construction, need-based college scholarships and prekindergarten programs.

To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has raised more than $2 billion for the state and education initiatives it serves.