Last year, the winner of the Boundary Trails Health Centre (BTHC) Foundation’s annual 50/50 raffle took home a total of $70,000.
This year, Shannon Samatte-Folkett, the executive director of the BTHC Foundation, hopes the number will be even larger.
She has her sights set on one member of the Pembina Valley taking home a grand prize of $100,000.
Off to the races
Samatte-Folkett said that the raffle, which sees half its total go to a winner and half to the BTHC Foundation, opened on Friday.
The total is off to a good start — the amount reached $11,000 in one weekend, with the number steadily rising.
At the time of publishing, the total is at almost $17,000.
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For the executive director, the growing tradition combines an enjoyable community event with raising funds that make a difference to local healthcare.
“You see a lot of people stop into the office and they’re curious [about the raffle], so that’s the fun part,” she said.
“The other part is that it does raise a lot of money for bigger projects that we’re undertaking.”
Strengthening local medical resources
Samatte-Folkett said that the funds from this year’s 50/50 raffle, which is in its fifth year, will be used for items such as a Neuro Chair and an MRI head coil.
“These are the things that maybe other facilities, say in Winnipeg, have and we don’t,” she said.
“That’s where we step in to help.”
Ways to enter
Samatte-Folkett said that the easiest way to buy tickets for the raffle is online here, but she also noted that community members are welcome to stop by the BTHC office for a visit or call the office at 204-331-8808, ext. 2 to secure tickets.
She added that the foundation is also likely to set up pop-up opportunities to purchase tickets, which will be posted on the organization’s social media.
A tour of a project long in the making
Initiatives like BTHC Foundation’s 50/50 raffle have contributed to a variety of projects at the health centre, including its expansion.
Samatte-Folkett said the foundation board recently toured the building as it progresses.
She labelled it “beautiful.”
“It is definitely state-of-the-art,” she said.
“Going through that tour and seeing what’s happening inside, because we haven’t [yet], that was something else. It really was very rewarding to see that for myself, and I’m pretty sure for my whole board, [too].”
Samatte-Folkett added that from raising funds for medical equipment and the hospital’s expansion to its current project of adding EV charging stations to the BTHC parking lot, the foundation’s “vision” is to provide all the essentials (and the extras that go above and beyond) for healthcare in the region itself.
“That is our goal,” she said. “Everything staying closer to home for our healthcare.”
To support the BTHC Foundation, click here to buy tickets for its 50/50 raffle.
The final deadline to purchase tickets is December 19, but there will also be two $500 early bird draws on November 21 and December 5, and a larger early bird draw for $2,500 on December 12.
With files from Jayme Giesbrecht and Ty Hildebrand