RALEIGH – Shakia Moran, who works as an assistant sales manager at a furniture store in Fayetteville, plans to use the $150,000 prize she won playing the new Joker’s Wild game to pay bills and purchase a home for her family

Moran is the first player to win the top prize in the game, which went on sale Tuesday, Dec. 2. She bought the lucky $5 ticket on Friday at the 20/20 Food Mart on Murchison Road in Fayetteville and scratched it off at home shortly after

“I looked at it and I couldn’t believe my eyes,” Moran said. “Then I let my mom take a look and she just started screaming. I never win anything, so this feels like heaven to me.”

After state and federal taxes were withheld, Moran received a check for $103,801. As of Monday afternoon, three more $150,000 top prizes remain to be claimed in the game.

Ticket sales have made it possible for the lottery to raise more than $3.5 billion for the state. North Carolina Education Lottery net proceeds will be used this year to help pay salaries of teachers and teacher assistants, for pre-kindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds, school construction and repair, and need-based college scholarships and financial aid.

For details on how more than $116 million in lottery funds have made a difference in Cumberland County, click on the “Where the Money Goes” tab on the lottery’s website.