A craving for a chocolatey snack on Thursday brought Jeffrey Benfield of Lexington $400,000 worth of good fortune.

Benfield stopped by the T & T Convenience on South N. C. 150 in Lexington and bought the wafer bars along with some lottery scratch-off tickets. While enjoying the snack on bench outside the store, he scratched off The Big $5 Ticket. He could hardly believe his luck when he realized he won the top prize.

“I kept looking at the ticket,” Benfield said. “I had to put my glasses up closer. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it!”

He began celebrating immediately, and wanted to use the ticket checker in the store to hear the musical tunes.

“I just wanted to hear the horns going off!” Benfield said.

He took his 87-year-old mother out to dinner later that night to share the good news.

“You should sit down for this,” he recalled telling her.

Benfield said he plans to use some of the money to renovate his mother’s house. He also said he wants to fulfill his long-time dream of taking his first cruise to Alaska.

He claimed his prize Friday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, Benfield took home $278,005.

The $5 game launched in May with four top prizes of $400,000. One top prize remains.

Ticket sales from instant games like The Big $5 Ticket make it possible for the lottery to raise more than half a billion dollars a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in Davidson County, click on the “For Education” section of the lottery’s website.