Louis Paine Jr., a retired teacher from Fletcher, tried his luck with a set of his children’s birthdays and won a $110,000 Cash 5 jackpot.

“I was flabbergasted,” Paine Jr. said. “Of course I didn’t believe it.”

Paine, 77, bought his ticket for the Feb. 1 Cash 5 drawing. He purchased the lucky ticket from the Ingles on Hendersonville Road in Fletcher.

After spending more than 40 years as an educator, Paine said he appreciates the significance of raising money to support local schools in North Carolina.

“Giving back to education is very important,” Paine said. “It’s the greatest thing we have in our country.”

Paine claimed his prize Tuesday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $78,122. He said he wants to invest some of the winnings and spread the rest out to his family.

Cash 5 is one of four lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets through Online Play, either through the lottery’s website or with the NC Lottery Official Mobile App. Cash 5 tickets are $1 and drawings are held every night. Tuesday’s jackpot is $110,000.

Ticket sales from draw games such as Cash 5 make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $900 million a year for education. For details on how $5.4 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Henderson County in 2020, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.