Chase the Ace fundraiser in Manitoba community exceeding $200,000

A map showing the location of La Broquerie, Manitoba. (CTV News Winnipeg)

Someone in Manitoba will be more than $200,000 richer if the ace is drawn this week.

La Broquerie Helping Hands, an organization that runs a food bank in the Manitoba community located approximately 60 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg, has been running a chase the ace fundraiser since last year, with the jackpot as of Thursday now hitting $224,070.

Jocelyn Gauthier, one of the board members for the organization, said the fundraiser started as a way for the organization to help purchase items like milk and bread for the food bank.

“We just never expected it to grow as big as it has now,” she said.

A chase the ace fundraiser, popular in Atlantic Canada, sees participants purchase lottery tickets. The winning ticket gets an opportunity to pull a card from a traditional playing deck. If they pull the ace of spades, they win the jackpot. Cards are removed from play until the ace is picked, and the jackpot continues to grow.

Gauthier said ticket sales began to spike this past February, and tickets regularly sell out.

“This is a huge impact for us, and this allows us to have the funds available for probably a good year to purchase the milk, the bread, the non-perishable items and to stock up the hampers we need,” she said.

Currently, La Broquerie Healing Hands helps 95 families in the community with food hampers, up from 35 when they first started.

The next draw will take place Thursday night at 8 p.m. at the La Broquerie hotel. Nine cards remain, including the ace of spades.

The organization said the final draw before the summer break —if the ace isn’t pulled — will take place on May 28.