RALEIGH – Michael Morton, a resident of Elon in Alamance County, plans to pay bills after winning $100,531 playing Carolina Cash 5 on Tuesday evening.

He learned of his win when he scanned his ticket at Dave’s Mini Mart on Chapel Hill Road in Burlington, where he bought his lucky ticket. Morton received a check for $68,361 after taxes were withheld.

“I’ve always said that when you win, you probably see flashing lights and hear sirens going off,” Morton said. “You may not hear the sirens or see the lights, but I did today. I was shocked. This came at a really good time.”

Since the lottery began through June 30 of 2011, Alamance County education programs received more than $26.1 million in lottery funds. By law, those funds pay for teachers’ salaries, school construction, need-based college scholarships and prekindergarten programs. Players in Alamance County have won more than $72.2 million in prizes since the lottery’s inception.

To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has raised more than $2.2 billion for these initiatives statewide.