Community Corner
Mecklenburg County Man Honors Late Wife After $100K Lottery Win
"It was nice driving in today because I could see her there sitting next to me in the car – in spirit," Cleveland said, claiming his win.
CHARLOTTE, NC — A Matthews man scored a $100,000 lottery win through the 2021 Multiply the Cash second-chance drawing, North Carolina Education Lottery said Wednesday.
It was a win that Burrell Cleveland, Jr., said he almost missed in his email inbox. Winners of the second-chance drawings are notified by either email or phone calls, and he initially thought the email was a notification of entry.
“I’m still surprised that I’m sitting here!” the Matthews man told lottery officials. “I looked down at my phone to check emails and was like, ‘what?’ It caught me totally off guard.”
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Cleveland told lottery officials that it was a win that would have thrilled his late wife.
“We played the lottery together,” he said. “And I always told her, ‘one day we’re gonna drive to Raleigh and pick up our money.’”
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Tuesday, Cleveland traveled to NCEL Headquarters in Raleigh to collect his winnings, which were $70,750 after paying federal and state taxes, NCEL said.
“It was nice driving in today because I could see her there sitting next to me in the car – in spirit,” Cleveland said. “Here we did it. We’re here.”
He told lottery officials he intended to put the money into savings for retirement — a plan he and his wife made together. He said he planned to also treat himself to a birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse.
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