RALEIGH – James Eldridge of Clinton plans to use the $150,000 prize he won playing the Joker’s Wild game to save for the future.

Eldridge scratched off the lucky $5 ticket on Saturday after purchasing it at the Sunset Hop In on Sunset Avenue in Clinton.

“When I scratched the ticket, it didn’t hit me that I’d won,” Eldridge said. “It still hasn’t hit me.”

After state and federal taxes were withheld, Eldridge collected a check for $103,876. As of Wednesday afternoon, one $150,000 prize remains to be claimed in the game.

For details on how $28 million in lottery funds have made a difference in Sampson County, click on the “Where the Money Goes” tab on the lottery’s website.

Ticket sales made it possible for the lottery to raise more than half a billion for the state last year. 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.