Union County man drives around with $25,000 A Year For Life prize and doesn’t know it

Bennie Faulkner of Marshville said he drove around with a $25,000 A Year For Life Prize for 72 hours and didn’t even know it.

“I always put my tickets in the glove compartment of my car,” Faulkner said. “I didn’t think I’d actually win, so I just forgot about it.”
 
The retired steel worker’s good fortune happened when he stopped to get some cold water at the Wingate Food Mart on U.S. 74 East in Wingate. While there, he bought a Lucky For Life ticket for the drawing on Nov. 18.

He didn’t realize that he won until his niece called him.

“She told me someone from Wingate won,” Faulkner said. “I went back to the store and scanned the ticket, when it said I needed to go to lottery headquarters I couldn’t believe it. It still hasn’t set in.”

Faulkner claimed his prize Wednesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. Winners are guaranteed $25,000 a year for life and have the option of taking a lump sum. Faulkner chose the lump sum. After federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $275,926. He said he plans to use the money to fix up his house.

Faulkner’s ticket matched the five white balls to win the prize. It beat odds of one in 1.8 million. Lucky for Life has 10 ways to win a prize. Faulkner won the second-place prize of $25,000 A Year For Life. The top prize is $1,000 A Day For Life.

Ticket sales from games like Lucky for Life made it possible for the lottery to raise more than $700 million a year for education. To learn how lottery funds made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties last year, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.