Taking a second chance paid off with a $150,000 prize for Wendy Montagno of Pinebluff, brightening up both her birthday and her holidays.

Montagno learned of her good luck Wednesday morning just three days after her birthday and three days before Christmas.

“I am still trying to make sure it is real,” said Montagno as she collected her prize. “This is the perfect early Christmas and late birthday present. I am so grateful.”

Montagno, a third-shift stocker at Walmart, won the grand prize in the Dec. 8 Holiday Winnings second-chance drawing. Her odds of winning were 1 in 17 million.

She arrived at lottery headquarters in Raleigh later Wednesday to collect her prize. After federal and state withholdings, she received $106,125.

She said she had not decided what to do with her prize money other than to pay some bills and buy some extra Christmas presents for her family.

One more Holiday Winnings second-chance drawing will be held on Feb. 9. The drawing offers one $150,000 prize, five $10,000 prizes, and 50 $500 prizes. For a chance to win one of those 56 prizes, just enter any of the lottery’s six holiday-themed tickets into a NC Lottery account on the lottery’s website or scan the ticket’s bar code using the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. The deadline to enter is Jan. 31.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $900 million a year for education. For details on how $4.6 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Moore County in 2020, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.