John McClellan of Spruce Pine tried his luck on a $20 scratch-off and won the first $100,000 prize in a new lottery game.
McClellan bought his lucky Mega 7’s ticket from One Stop on Barnardsville Highway in Barnardsville in Buncombe County. He arrived at lottery headquarters Tuesday to collect his prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $71,016.
Mega 7’s debuted this month with four $2 million prizes and eight $100,000 prizes. Four $2 million prizes and seven $100,000 prizes remain to be claimed.
Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $2.5 million a day for education. The state provided $32 million in grants, using money raised by the lottery, to help Mitchell County with school construction. For details on other ways Mitchell County benefits from lottery funds, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.