Alan Cheek of Burlington returned home from an out-of-state trip to some big news— a $286,845 second chance drawing win.

“I thought, ‘oh my gosh, that’s quite a surprise,’” recalled Cheek, a retired law enforcement officer. “I had to let it sink in over the weekend.”

The news came in a phone call from the lottery that Cheek received after returning from a trip to California. He learned he had won the “rolling jackpot” in the Sept. 14 Carolina Jackpot second-chance drawing.

“I went through all the emotions,” said Cheek. “I’ve been working on some projects, so this makes decisions easier.”

He plans to continue work on a few remodeling projects in his home with his winnings. His entry was 1 of 13,224,107 entries in the drawing.

Cheek arrived at lottery headquarters on Monday to collect his prize, and after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $203,689.

Players get a second chance with their Carolina Jackpot tickets by scanning the tickets into their lottery accounts where they are automatically entered into the next drawing. The drawing’s rolling jackpot continues to grow with every entry until the next second-chance drawing.

Winners of second-chance drawings get their first notification by email, followed by a phone call, and finally a certified letter. The first four drawings feature the rolling jackpot and the fifth drawing features a top prize of $200,000. The deadline for entries into the fourth drawing is Oct. 30. The drawing is scheduled for Nov. 2.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $2.5 million a day on average for education. For details on how $9.7 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Alamance County in 2021, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.