RALEIGH – Larry Barksdale of Faison is the first to claim one of two $211,141 Cash 5 winning tickets sold in Duplin County for the Feb. 7 drawing. Barksdale received a check for $143,576 after taxes were withheld. He purchased his winning ticket at the Friendly Mart on Center Street in Faison.

The second winning ticket from the Feb. 7 drawing was sold at the C-Check on Brinson Road in Magnolia, just16 miles away from the Friendly Mart. As of Monday afternoon, the prize has yet to be claimed. Winners have 180 days from the draw date to claim their prize.

Ticket sales for games such as instant scratch-offs have enabled the lottery to raise more than $2.6 billion for education initiatives statewide. Since the lottery began through June 30, 2012, Duplin County education programs received more than $15.4 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.