LeKessa Pearce won big playing Carolina Cash 5 and she plans to use the $342,292 jackpot to craft the tiny backyard oasis of her dreams: a she shed.
“We’re not really big spenders,” said Pearce, a stay-at-home mom of three. “We’ll put most of the money in savings, use it for practical things. Something fun I’d like to do with the winnings is build a she shed!”
A “she shed” – the newly popular backyard hideaway for women equivalent to a “man cave” – would allow her space to relax and have fun crafting and exploring her other hobbies.
Pearce bought the lucky ticket Friday at the Food Lion on Hicone Road in Greensboro, but didn’t realize she had won until her husband, Brock, thought to check her ticket on Saturday.
“I saw the numbers on my phone and I had to rub my eyes,” he said. “I couldn’t believe they were real. I said, 'Babe, come over here and look at this!'”
“I thought something was wrong with his phone,” she said. “So I checked on mine and they all matched. It still feels so unreal.”
Pearce kept the winning ticket on her in her fanny pack all weekend, constantly checking to make sure it hadn’t disappeared.
“Holding onto this ticket for the whole weekend felt like a year,” she said. “We went to a birthday pool party and all I could think was, 'Don't get it wet, don't go near the water, don't get it wet . . . '"
Pearce kept the knowledge of the big win in the family.
"We didn’t tell anybody except for our moms," said Pearce. "Brock’s mom thought we were joking, she couldn't believe it. They are so excited for us.”
Pearce claimed her ticket Monday at lottery headquarters in Raleigh. After required state and federal withholding, she took home $242,172.
"I can't wait," said Pearce. "This is just going to be the chichiest she shed you ever did see!"
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