RALEIGH – A Fayetteville man has won the largest Carolina Cash 5 jackpot ever awarded to a Cumberland County resident. Donald Mercurio won $461,499 after his ticket was the only one to match all five numbers in the Jan. 26 drawing.

Mercurio purchased his winning ticket, worth $313,819 after state and federal taxes were withheld, at the Kangaroo Express located on Bragg Boulevard at Shaw Road in Fayetteville.

Since Carolina Cash 5 began in October 2006, shares of 29 jackpots have been awarded to players from Cumberland County. Since the lottery began through June 30, 2011, Cumberland County players won more than $152.9 million in prizes and local retailers have earned more than $20.6 million in commissions on ticket sales.

During the same time frame, Cumberland County education programs received more than $79.4 million in lottery proceeds. 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 $2.2 billion for the initiatives it serves statewide.