RALEIGH – George Stewart, a small business owner from Sanford, plans to use the $311,163 he won playing Carolina Cash 5 to pay bills and save for retirement. His Quick Pick ticket matched all five numbers in Wednesday’s drawing.

“I told my wife that someone had won last night’s Cash 5 drawing,” Stewart said. “She said, ‘Oh well’. Then I looked at her and said, ‘We did.’ It was a Hallmark moment. We’re so excited.”

After state and federal taxes were withheld, Stewart received a check for $215,325. He purchased the lucky ticket, which beat odds of 1 in 575,757, at the D & D General Store on Carbonton Road in Sanford.

“I feel great,” Stewart said as he held his check for the first time. “Wow. All I can say is wow.”

Ticket sales have made it possible for the lottery to raise more than $3.3 billion for the state. Net proceeds are used for prekindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds, teachers’ salaries in grades K-3, school construction, digital learning initiatives, need-based college scholarships and financial aid.

For details on how more than $20.6 million in lottery funds have made a difference in Lee County, click on the “Where the Money Goes” tab on the lottery’s website.