A man found a $20 note in a North Carolina convenience store parking lot and turned it into a lot more.

Jerry Hicks, a 56-year-old master carpenter from Banner Elk, said he strolled inside the Speedway shop and used the money to buy an Extreme Cash scratch-off ticket.

“They actually didn’t have the ticket I was looking for so I bought that one instead,” he told me with a grin.

According to organizers, the lucky purchase resulted in a $1 million award. He had a 1:2,017,650 chance of winning the top prize.

And Hicks knew just where he was going to spend part of the money initially.

“We are going to head straight to Golden Corral and eat everything they’ve got,” he told us.

Hicks claimed his prizes at lottery headquarters on Friday, October 25, and elected to accept them in a lump sum of $600,000. He received $429,000 after deducting state and federal taxes.

He intends to use the award to retire from his long carpentry profession and help his children, according to officials.

Many people can gamble or play games of chance without causing harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that may destroy lives and families.

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