RALEIGH – Kernersville resident Jeffrey Svedek, a customer service representative for Planet Fitness, said he plans to pay bills and give his mother a nice Christmas present after winning $246,279 playing Carolina Cash 5.

Svedek used a series of family birthdays to pick all five numbers drawn in Saturday’s drawing to win the jackpot.

“I’d used those numbers for a while and was about to pick some new ones,” said Svedek. “I’m so glad I didn’t. This feels really good.”

Svedek purchased the lucky $1 ticket at County Line Grocery on North Main Street in Kernersville. After taxes were withheld, he received a check for $170,548.

Tonight’s Cash 5 jackpot is $53,000. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 575,757.

Ticket sales made it possible for the lottery to raise more than half a billion dollars for the state last year. For details on how $112 million in lottery funds have made a difference in Forsyth County, click on the “Where the Money Goes” tab on the lottery’s website.