(RedDeerKinsmen.com)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

supporting the community

Kinsmen draw $100,000 winner of 50/50 raffle

Jan 10, 2021 | 10:06 AM

A Sylvan Laker is $100,000 richer today because of his support for the Red Deer Kinsmen 50/50 Cash Raffle.

Darrell Elsbett’s name was drawn Saturday afternoon at the parking lot next to the St. Joseph High School field house, a project the Kinsmen contributed to financially in recent years.

“I bought a ticket to help the local community, plus I have friends who are Kinsmen so I wanted to help them out, and it was a double whammy because I bought the ticket for my wife’s christmas present so I had that in her stocking,” says Elsbett who grew up in the Duchess area near Brooks.

“You’d see the Kinsmen all over the community, whether it was doing the parade, a rodeo or other events. I’m well aware of them from my childhood and I’ve always tried to support them.”

The Kinsmen 50/50 Cash Raffle is typically part and parcel of their annual dream home lottery. That had to be shelved due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“We’re very appreciative that the community stepped up and sold this other option out for us so we can keep supporting charities and projects that we have,” says Craig Fleming, raffle co-chair. “We sold out with just about a week left to go in December.”

Among the projects recently funded by the Kinsmen are a parent’s suite at Red Deer Regional Hospital, a play space for Family Services of Central Alberta, an indoor play centre at Blackfalds’ Abbey Centre, and renovations at Camp Alexo.

They also support several charities on an ongoing basis, such as the Red Deer Food Bank, Aspire Special Needs Resource Centre, Red Deer Action Group Society, the Red Deer Boxing Club and The Lending Cupboard.

“It’s a really rewarding feeling to be able to leave a long-lasting legacy and positive mark as a Red Deer Kinsmen,” Fleming adds. “Some of the charities we support, we’re their key source of funding, and it’s a long list.”

Fortunately, says Fleming, all options are still on the table for 2021, but dream home or not, it’ll be bigger than the 2020 raffle.