The North Carolina Education Lottery has surpassed $9bn in money raised for education in the state as it celebrated its 16th birthday last week.
Across the lottery’s 16-year lifespan, it has attained $33.74bn in ticket sales and awarded $20.98bn in prizes to lottery winners. Additionally, $2.36bn has been awarded in commissions to its retail partners.
Last year, the lottery raised $936m for educational purposes, the most it has ever raised in one year.
Mark Michalko, Executive Director of the lottery, commented: “At the current rate of $2.5m a day, the benefits to the state add up quickly over time.
“Crossing a $9bn milestone is a great testament to the support the lottery has from the people of our state. We’re proud to do our part in supporting education in North Carolina.”
Celebrating raising over $9bn, the lottery outlined that it helps support education in the Tar Heel State by covering some of the costs of school workers in all school systems, building new schools and repairing older ones in all 100 counties. Furthermore, it provides scholarships and grants based on the financial need to make college more affordable.
Finally, lottery funding goes towards providing free academic preschool through the NC Pre-K program for at-risk four-year-olds and helping to cover the costs of school transportation.