RALEIGH – Jennifer Lee, a 65-year-old machinist from Winston-Salem, plans to use the $182,493 jackpot she won playing Carolina Cash 5 to pay off her home, buy a car and save for her upcoming retirement.

Lee matched all five numbers in the April 27 drawing on her Quick Pick ticket. She learned of her big win when she saw the winning numbers on News 14 on Tuesday morning.

“I saw the numbers but it didn’t seem real,” Lee said. “It still hasn’t hit me. It feels like nothing has happened, but it has. Very exciting.”

After state and federal taxes were withheld, Lee collected a check for $126,376. She purchased the lucky ticket, which beat odds of 1 in 575,757, at the Konnoak Shell on South Main Street in Winston-Salem.

The jackpot for the Friday, May 1 Cash 5 drawing is $50,000.

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 $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.