Winners from Greensboro and Jacksonville each have claimed their half of the $764,146 Carolina Cash 5 jackpot that was won on Wednesday night.

Each matched all five numbers in the Aug. 22 drawing, beating odds of 1 in 575,757 to split the jackpot. The jackpot, which rises daily until won, had reached the highest level in the game so far this year. Both players bought Quick Pick tickets, allowing the lottery terminal to provide their five lucky numbers for the drawings.

Tammy Mintz of Jacksonville, a manager for Whizz Mart, said she planned to use her winnings to help her mother, who is suffering from diabetes and heart disease. “My Mom is ill and her medication is expensive so I plan to make her life a little easier,” Mintz said.

Mintz said she would use some of her winnings to pay bills and then save the rest for retirement. She said her company does not allow employees to play the lottery at Whizz Mart gas stations so she purchased her tickets at WilcoHess on Western Boulevard in Jacksonville. Mintz brought 10 tickets for the Wednesday drawing and it was the 10th ticket that she brought that matched all the winning numbers. “Something just told me to go and buy some tickets,” said Mintz.

The other winner, Denise R. Clayton of Greensboro, said she is an occasional lottery player. She said she took a chance with the Cash 5 game on Wednesday at the urging of a clerk at the Smile Mart on Eastchester Drive in High Point who pointed out the size of the jackpot.

“I don’t call it luck,” said Clayton, an ultrasound sonographer. “I just say it was a blessing.” Clayton and her husband said they plan to donate to their church, help their family and take a vacation.

Each winner received $382,073, half of the jackpot. After taxes were withheld, they received $259,809 each.

To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has raised more than $2.45 billion for education initiatives statewide. By law, those funds pay for teachers’ salaries in grades K-3, school construction, prekindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds, and college scholarships and financial aid based on need.