Kathy Garcia of Charlotte can’t believe her good luck after she won $150,000 on her very first scratch-off ticket.

“I was so surprised,” Garcia said. “I never expected this.”

Garcia asked her boyfriend to get her a scratch-off ticket when he told her he was going out to buy some.

“I just decided I wanted one,” Garcia said. “He’s the one who plays regularly. I can’t believe he wasn’t the one who won.”

At first she didn’t realize the $500 Cash ticket was a winner.

“I didn’t even know if I was reading it right,” Garcia said.

She claimed her prize Thursday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal tax withholdings, she took home $104,253. She plans to put the money in savings.

Garcia’s boyfriend bought the $5 ticket at the Rushco Food Store on Jake Alexander Boulevard in Salisbury.

Ticket sales from games like $500 Cash made it possible for the lottery to raise more than $634 million for the state last year. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in Mecklenburg County, click on the “For Education” section of the lottery’s website.