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RALEIGH – Madelin Contreras of Cleveland took a chance on a $5 scratch-off ticket and won a $400,000 prize.

Contreras bought her lucky $35,000,000 Blowout ticket from the Salisbury Mini Mart on South Main Street in Salisbury. She arrived at lottery headquarters Friday to collect her prize and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $284,041.

The $35,000,000 Blowout game started in January with four top prizes of $400,000. Two top prizes remain to be claimed.

Ticket sales from scratch-off games make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $900 million per year for education. For details on how $7.4 million raised by the lottery made a difference in Rowan County in 2021, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.