Kent Watkins of Elm City came home one day to a letter notifying him that he was the winner of a Millionaire Maker $100,000 second-chance prize.
“I was surprised,” he said. “I had to call it up and make sure it was really real. I was dumbfounded that I really won something.”
Watkins’ entry was chosen from 1,319,154 entries in the June 9 drawing. Winners of second-chance drawings receive a phone call, email, or letter notifying them that they won.
“I’ve always entered,” he said. “You never know when you’ll win.”
Watkins claimed his prize Tuesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required federal and state tax withholdings, he took home $70,750.
“There’s things that we need to fix up around the house,” he said of his plans for the prize money.
Two more Millionaire Maker second-chance drawings remain. Each drawing offers one $1 million grand prize, one $100,000 prize, and 20 $500 prizes. To enter the next drawing, scan your Millionaire Maker ticket’s bar code using the NC Lottery Official Mobile App or enter your Millionaire Maker tickets via the lottery’s website.
Ticket sales from scratch-off games like Millionaire Maker make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $725 million per year for education.
A $15 million grant, using money raised by lottery, will help Wilson County expand the Wilson County Schools Early College of Applied Technology Academy. The expansion will involve moving the academy’s high school location from shared space in an existing high school to a new facility on the Wilson Community College campus.
