Ada Baker of Kinston said she plans to use a $250,000 prize to take a dream trip to Jamaica for her 50th birthday.

“My 50th birthday is in September,” said Baker, who looks after her eight grandchildren. “I’m going to treat myself with a trip to Jamaica. I’ve never been able to treat myself like that before.”

Her good luck happened when she purchased the $5 HIT $500 scratch-off ticket from the C Mart on Greenbrier Road in Kinston. She scratched her ticket later that night.

“I wasn’t planning on buying a lottery ticket,” Baker said. “I just went in for a pack of cigarettes. When I got home and saw that I won $250,000, I didn’t believe it. I just fell on the floor!”

Baker claimed her winnings Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $176,254. She also plans to use the money to buy new cars for her son and daughter.

HIT $500 launched earlier this month with six top prizes of $250,000 and more than $7 million in $500 prizes. Baker is the first winner of a top prize in this game. Five top prizes remain.

Ticket sales from games like HIT $500 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $600 million dollars a year for education. For details on how $3.6 million raised by the lottery supported education programs in Lenoir County last year, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website, https://www.nclottery.com.