Kaitlen Raney of Saluda, Va., visited Mebane over the weekend to see her grandfather and, thanks to his advice, picked up a $100,000 lottery prize.

Raney says she usually only buys $1 scratch-offs until she got some grandfatherly advice Saturday. When she and her grandfather stopped at Hawfields General Store on N.C. 119 in Mebane, he suggested she try for a bigger prize with a $20 ticket. She listened and bought a Ruby Red 7’s ticket.

As the two played the lottery together back at her grandfather’s home, Raney discovered his tip paid off with a $100,000 prize.

“Maybe he’s not so crazy for playing the lottery after all,’ Raney said Wednesday as she claimed her prize at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. “I guess I owe him dinner. Good job, granddad.”

Raney said she plans to use the prize money to start a college fund for her son and save for a home. After the required federal and state withholdings, she received $70,756.

The Ruby Red 7’s game started in January with four $4 million prizes and eight $100,000 prizes. Three $4 million prizes and six $100,000 prizes remain to be won.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games help the lottery raise more than $700 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.