Last Updated on September 20, 2018 12:46 pm
*North Carolina Education Lottery Press Release*
April Lee of Boomer said a lucky feeling led her to a $1 million lottery prize.
On Tuesday, Lee stopped at the Ashley Farms II on N.C. 268 West in Wilkesboro on her way to work. While she was there, she bought a Carolina Millions scratch-off ticket.
“I normally play the crossword tickets,” said Lee, who works at a packaging plant. “But I was looking at this ticket and something just said to go and get it.”
Lee put the ticket in her lunch bag and forgot about it until her lunch break.
“I started screaming and hollering,” Lee said. “I was in shock. I couldn’t believe it.”
Lee claimed her prize Wednesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. She had the choice of taking an annuity that has 20 payments of $50,000 a year or a lump sum of $600,000. She chose the lump sum. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $423,009. She plans to use some of the money to buy a new home.
“We rent a home right now,” Lee said. “It would be nice to get something closer to where my husband and I work.”
The $10 ticket launched in October 2016 with eight top prizes of $1 million. Since Lee claimed the last top prize, the lottery will take steps to end the game.
Ticket sales from games like Carolina Millions help the lottery raise more than $650 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds are making a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties, click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website, https://www.nclottery.com
