RALEIGH – John Matt, a mechanical designer from Fuquay-Varina, plans to use the $110,757 jackpot he won playing Carolina Cash 5 to pay off his auto loans, share with his children and save for the future. His Quick Pick ticket matched all five numbers in the March 31 drawing.

Matt learned of his big win when he returned home from shopping on Friday.

“I was walking towards the house and my wife comes out with a ticket in her hand,” Matt said. “When she told me we’d won, I thought she meant fifty dollars or something. Anything is better than nothing, you know? But then she told me what we’d won. It’s still unbelievable.”

Matt purchased the lucky ticket at the Chalybeate Store on U.S. 401 North in Fuquay-Varina.

After state and federal taxes were withheld, Matt collected a check for $76,699. He beat odds of 1 in 575,757 to win the jackpot. The jackpot for the Monday, April 6 Cash 5 drawing is $50,000.

Matt had one of two tickets that matched all five numbers in the March 31 drawing to split the $221,514 jackpot. The second $110,757 prize, which has not been claimed, was won on a ticket purchased at the Smokes Mooresville on River Highway in Mooresville.

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.

For details on how more than $40 million in lottery funds have made a difference in Harnett County, click on the “Where the Money Goes” tab on the lottery’s website.