RALEIGH – Mauro Oliveira, a health insurance manager from Miami Lakes in Florida, says he plans to take a trip after winning a $149,427 jackpot in the Carolina Cash 5 game on Feb. 22. He was visiting family when he purchased the winning Quick Pick ticket at the Harris Teeter on N.C. 55 in Cary.

“My parents said I should buy a ticket so I bought two of them,” Oliveira said. “I was back in Florida when my mom called and told me I had won. It was very exciting, as you can imagine.”

After state and federal taxes were withheld, Oliveira received a check for $103,403.

“I feel great,” Oliveira said as he collected his winnings on Friday.

As of December 2013, the lottery has raised more than $3.19 billion to benefit education programs. Lottery dollars support teachers’ salaries in grades K-3, school construction and repair projects, prekindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds, need-based college scholarships and financial aid and digital learning initiatives.

To see how more than $233.6 million in lottery dollars have made a difference in Wake County, go to the Where the Money Goes webpage at http://www.nc-educationlottery.org/beneficiary.aspx.