Yadkinville resident Danny Williams, the second player to win the top prize in the $500 a Week for Life! game, plans to use his winnings to save for retirement. Williams was at home when he scratched off his lucky $1 ticket.

“I didn’t know how much I’d won until I went to claim the ticket in Greensboro,” Williams said. “This feels really good.”

The $500 a Week for Life! top prize guarantees winners an annual prize of $26,000 for the rest of their lives. The winner can also choose a lump sum cash prize, worth $354,000, instead of the annuity.

Williams chose the lump sum option and received a check for $240,720 after state and federal taxes were withheld.

$500 a Week for Life! is one of four instant games offering the chance to win as much as $5,000 a week for life. The tickets are available for $1, $2, $5 and $10 per play.

Williams purchased the lucky ticket at Cutter’s Grocery on Speer Bridge Road in Yadkinville. As of Tuesday afternoon, four more top prizes remain to be won in the $500 a Week for Life! game.

Ticket sales for games such as instant scratch-offs have enabled the lottery to raise more than $2.58 billion for education initiatives statewide. Since the lottery began through June 30, 2012, Yadkin County education programs received more than $10.2 million in lottery funds. By law, those funds pay for teachers’ salaries in grades K-3, school construction, prekindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds, and need-based college scholarships and financial aid.

North Carolina Education Lottery net proceeds are used for prekindergarten programs for at-risk four-year-olds, reduction of class size in early grades, school construction and need-based college scholarships. For prizes of $5,000 and greater, 25% federal tax and 7% state tax are automatically withheld.