RALEIGH – Diane Perkins, a case manager from Raleigh, purchased three N.C. Education Lottery scratch-off tickets on Tuesday. She scratched the first ticket, Jumbo Bucks, and won $15. The first of two $125,000 Casino Cash tickets revealed a $5 prize. Her lucky streak concluded when she won the game’s $125,000 top prize on the third ticket.

“The music came on the machine and it said I had to claim my prize at the lottery,” Perkins said. “I still kept wondering if I was seeing it right on the ticket.”

Perkins plans to use her winnings, worth $85,001 after taxes, to pay bills and buy something special for herself.

“It’s going to take a while for this to wear off,” Perkins added as she held her check for the first time. “I am so happy. You dream of a moment like this.”

Perkins purchased her winning ticket at the Kangaroo Express on Millbrook Road in Raleigh. As of Wednesday, three more top prizes remain to be claimed in the $125,000 Casino Cash game.

From March 30, 2006 through June 30, 2010, Wake County players have won more than $225.3 million in lottery prizes and county retailers have earned more than $28.7 million in commissions on ticket sales.

During the same time period, Wake County education programs have received more than $108 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 education initiatives it serves statewide.