RALEIGH – For Becky Richardson of Hollister, a win of $477,275 in the Carolina Cash 5 on June 24 means that that as she turns 21 next month she will have her car paid for, money to buy her first home and a bigger savings account for the future.

“I’m turning 21 in a couple of weeks,” Richardson said. “I’m really happy. This is like an early birthday present.”

Richardson purchased her winning ticket, worth $324,548 after state and federal taxes were withheld, at the New Dixie Mart on Dortches Boulevard in Rocky Mount.

Richardson’s Quick Pick ticket was one of two to match all five numbers in the drawing for the $954,550 jackpot. The other half of the jackpot was claimed on Wednesday afternoon by Karen Horton, a retired corrections officer from Salisbury.

Ticket sales for games such as Carolina Cash 5 have enabled the lottery to raise more than $2.8 billion for education initiatives statewide. Since the lottery began through June 30, 2012, Halifax County education programs received more than $14.7 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.