RALEIGH – Darrin Fitch, a resident of Matthews, says that winning a $337,126 Carolina Cash 5 jackpot means he can pay bills, take a vacation and save for the future.

Fitch learned of his big win when he scanned his ticket at the Stanfield Mini Mart on West Stanly Street in Stanfield, where he made his lucky purchase. He claimed his prize at lottery headquarters on Thursday, March 14.

“I stopped in to get a soda and asked the clerk to check my tickets for me,” Fitch said. “I knew the jackpot was over $300,000 that night. When she told me I had hit the Cash 5, my heart started pounding.”

Fitch’s ticket for the Jan. 27 Cash 5 drawing matched all five numbers, beating odds of 1 in 575,757 to win the jackpot. After taxes were withheld, he received a check for $229,246.

Ticket sales for games such as Carolina Cash 5 have enabled the lottery to raise more than $2.6 billion for education initiatives statewide. Since the lottery began through June 30, 2012, Mecklenburg County education programs received more than $210.9 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.