Kenneth Jenkins of Hamilton celebrated Father’s Day with a $1 million lottery win.
“I couldn’t ask for a better Father’s Day,” said Jenkins, who has five children and five grandchildren. “It’s wonderful!”
His good fortune happened Sunday when he stopped at the Duck Thru Food Store on South Front Street in Hamilton. He bought two Lucky No. 7 scratch-off tickets.
“I’ve scratched a lot of tickets,” Jenkins said. “But I’ve never scratched one like that. I just went to Harlem I was so excited.”
Jenkins claimed his prize Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. He had the choice of taking an annuity that has 20 payments of $50,000 a year or a lump sum of $600,000. He chose the lump sum. After required state and federal tax withholdings, he took home $423,009. He plans to use some of the money to take his wife traveling.
“I’m not sure where we’re going to go yet,” Jenkins said. “Now that we have the option to do it, I just know we’re going to go somewhere.”
The $10 ticket launched in April with six top prizes of $1 million. Four top prizes remain.
Ticket sales from instant games like Lucky No. 7 help the lottery to raise more than $600 million dollars a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.