GOLDSBORO – Martha Dixon of Goldsboro achieved her dream of winning a big lottery prize when her ticket in a Lucky For Life drawing won $25,000 a year for life.
“This has always been my dream,” said Dixon on Wednesday as she collected her prize, “to be debt-free and able to help others.”
Dixon’s ticket, purchased at the Save More on East Ashe Street in Goldsboro, matched all five white balls in the June 29 drawing. The odds of winning a $25,000 a year for life prize are 1 in 1.8 million.
Dixon, 82, could have chosen to take her prize as an annuity that would pay her $25,000 a year every year for the rest of her life. She chose instead to take the lump sum of $390,000 and, after required federal and state tax withholdings, took home $276,772.
“I’m still nervous,” Dixon said. “I’m still shaking. I’ve never had a check with that much money.”
Dixon, who works part-time as a school cafeteria worker, said she planned to give to her church, repair her home, pay off her bills, invest, and help others.
Lucky for Life is one of four lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets at a retail location or with Online Play, either through the lottery’s website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. Lucky for Life drawings are held every night and offer a top prize of $1,000 a day for life. Tickets cost $2.
Ticket sales from games such as Lucky for Life make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $900 million a year for education.
Wayne County has received state grants totaling $24 million from monies raised by the lottery to help build a new elementary school.
