A North Carolina man's used a $20 bill he discovered on the ground to purchase a lottery scratch-off ticket that won him a $1 million top prize, officials said. NC LotteryThe find was made Oct. 22 outside a Speedway gas station and convenience store in Boone, North Carolina, the NC Education Lottery said in a statement Friday. He told lottery officials he'll use the money to help his children and to retire after more than five decades as a carpenter, according to the NC Education Lottery statement. On Monday, NC Education Lottery officials said Cynthia Moore of Smithfield was the first, $1 million top-prize winner for its Cashword scratch-off game, introduced in August, after she purchased a $10 ticket at a market in Wilson. For two years in a row, lottery officials said in August, NC Education Lottery games have earned more than $1 billion for public schools and other education programs, contributing it to the state's more than $15 billion in annual education spending.

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Persons: Carolina man's, Jerry Hicks, Hicks didn't, “, ”, Hicks, they’ve, Cynthia Moore Organizations: NC, Lottery, NC Education Locations: Carolina, Boone , North Carolina, Banner Elk, Avery County, North Carolina, Smithfield, Wilson