A $273,027 Cash 5 jackpot will help Alvin Richardson of Raleigh give his 90-year-old mother the care she needs.

“We pull together as a family to help my mom,” Richardson said of his brothers and sister. “So this’ll help us do that.”

Richardson, who works odd jobs and spends his free time taking care of his mother, won when his numbers matched all five numbers in Monday night’s drawing.

“Wow! I had no idea it was going to be this much money,” he said. “I had to keep myself from doing cartwheels!”

Richardson has been playing the lottery every day at the same J Food Mart on Simpkins Road in Raleigh for years. He believed that one day he would win big and his patience paid off with a $1 Quick Pick ticket he bought that Monday morning.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Richardson said. “I’ve been playing since the beginning!”

Richardson said the prize money will also support his hobby.

“I have some old vehicles I like to fix up,” he said. “I promised them a long time ago that I was getting them a new set of tires!”

Richardson beat the odds of one in 962,598. He claimed his prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home a check for $193,167.

Cash 5 is a statewide draw game that gives players the chance to win a jackpot every single night. Tickets cost $1 and players can buy tickets at most lottery retailers or through Online Play on the lottery’s website. Thursday’s jackpot stands at $120,000.

Ticket sales from draw games like Cash 5 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have helped all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.