RALEIGH – John Woolard of Washington matched all five numbers in the Dec. 4 drawing by playing the same set of numbers for a year. He plans to use the $117,305 jackpot he won playing Carolina Cash 5 to purchase a tract of land.

“I figured I would never win,” Woolard said. “I thought I was buying a dream for a dollar. It’s so hard to believe that I won. It’s amazing. I am truly blessed.”

After taxes were withheld, Woolard received a check for $79,767. He purchased his winning ticket at the Moody Mart on Magnolia Drive in Washington.

Ticket sales for games such as Carolina Cash 5 have enabled the lottery to raise more than $2.58 billion for education initiatives statewide. Since the lottery began through June 30, 2012, Beaufort County education programs received more than $11.2 million in lottery funds. By law, those funds pay for teachers’ salaries in grades K-3, school construction, prekindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds, and need-based college scholarships and financial aid.

A Cash 5 promotion that started Sept. 9 offers players five extra chances to win as much as $50,000. In each Cash 5 Bonus Bucks drawings five prizes will be awarded: One $50,000 grand prize, one $5,000 prize, and three $1,000 prizes. The first Bonus Bucks drawing was held on Nov. 14 and the second is scheduled for Jan. 16. More details on the promotion are available on the lottery’s official website.