RALEIGH – Talven Thompson, a retiree from Asheville, has always called himself a lucky man. On Thursday afternoon, he proved it by claiming two Carolina Cash 5 tickets he purchased for the March 3 drawing.

Thompson has played the same sets of numbers for the past two years based on family birthdays. He said he was almost ready to try out a new set of numbers when, in last Friday’s drawing, he matched 4 out of 5 numbers on one ticket and 5 out of 5 on another, winning $251 and $181,831, respectively.

He learned of his win when his wife watched the live drawing on WLOS and told him to check his numbers.

“I tell people all the time. I get something good out of every day I’m alive,” Thompson said. “This is just a bonus, a blessing.”

Thompson plans to use his winnings, worth $80,997 after taxes were withheld, to pay bills and help his family. He purchased his lucky tickets at Elben Short Stop on Biltmore Avenue in Asheville.

“Thank you very large,” Thompson said as he held his check for the first time. “I feel like a brand new dollar.”

Since the lottery began through June 30 of 2011, Buncombe County education programs received more than $37.7 million in lottery funds. By law, those funds pay for teachers’ salaries, school construction, need-based college scholarships and prekindergarten programs.

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