Adam Prudhomme
Editor
After a brief stay in quarantine, Ace is once again on the run and hoping to raise some funds for the Lennox and Addington County General Hospital.
The Catch the Ace Progressive Lottery is back for a second round with weekly draws and a cumulative prize that can be won at anytime over the next 52 weeks. Tickets for the lottery will officially go on sale Friday.
“It’s a progressive lottery,” explains LACGH’s Catch the Ace chair Kelly Schermerhorn. “Every week there’s a winner that’s going to be drawn. They win a weekly prize and they also have an opportunity to choose a card. They’re looking for the ace of spades. If the ace of spades is there, they win the jackpot, which is a progressive jackpot. If it’s not the ace of spades, that card is removed from the deck and then the funds for the progressive roll into the next week.”
Tickets can be purchased at Ace-LACGHF.com, with the first draw on Nov. 26. Those who want to make an in-person purchase can visit Ellena’s Café at 16 Dundas Street E in Napanee every Tuesday between 9 a.m.-11 a.m. where a hospital volunteer will be on hand to help with a credit card purchase.
Each week the winner will be drawn on Facebook Live in partnership with MyFM. That week’s winner will claim 20 per cent of the money raised for that week, with 30 per cent going to the progressive jackpot, of which the grand prizewinner will claim. The remaining 50 per cent goes to the foundation.
A total of 52 cards in the deck means the lottery could run for up to 52 weeks. Last time it didn’t take long for Ace to get caught as Terra Osborne picked the winning card after just three weeks, winning just under $3,000.
To help promote the return of the lottery, LACGH Foundation’s Adrienne Harris-Hale dressed as Ace and went for a faux COVID-19 test. The test of course came back negative, which meant Ace is now free to come out of quarantine and the chase is back on.
“We’ve got a lot of momentum going from the last one,” said LACGH Foundation executive director Michelle Dickerson. “A lot of people are excited.”
Last time around the three week run raised just under $8,000 for the hospital. Money raised from the lottery will be used to purchase medical equipment for the hospital. The Foundation is hoping the lottery will help offset the loss of fundraisers such as the annual golf tournament, which had to be cancelled in June due to COVID-19.
A video showing just how difficult it is to catch the speedy Ace can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtpCUJkzq5c