The Food Depot Alimentaire 50/50 jackpot draw has reached a level never before seen.
Coordinator Donna Eagles expects it’ll climb to over $700,000 before the lucky ticket is chosen.
“It’s called a Gold Rush Draw. You register to play. Basically what you’re doing when you register to play is committing to purchase a minimum of a $2 ticket every week,” said Eagles.
“If a week goes by and you fail to purchase your $2 ticket at a minimum, and we draw that number, then what happens is the entire pot rolls over to the next week. So it has been two years since we have had a two-week rollover and this is the result of a two-week rollover.”
The lucky individual whose ticket is drawn will take half, and the rest goes to Food Depot Alimentaire.
“It goes towards the purchase and distribution of over $16 million worth of food every year. We support food banks, soup kitchens, crisis centres, after-school programs, a variety of different other nonprofit organizations and school nutrition programs throughout the province of New Brunswick,” said Eagles.
Eagles said the draw has brought in over $18 million since it began 10 years ago.
If you’ve purchased tickets in the past but stopped and your number is chosen, you won’t win the money, and your name will be posted as a non-winner.
“There is a reason why the names are posted. It’s part of the Gold Rush Draw, and we want people to know that everything that we have done is done with integrity. If we did not post that name, then someone might assume that perhaps we’ve been playing with the draw and we’re just trying to get a rollover or whatever,” said Eagles.
“We post those names so that you know that the players are real players. It is actually part of the regulations that we have under our draw rules and regulations which we post in the stores, and on the website.”
She adds that you can contact them to have your numbers removed from the draw or if someone who has purchased tickets in the past has passed away.
The next Food Depot Alimentaire 50/50 jackpot draw will be done at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 2.
You can buy tickets at one of the participating retail locations or purchase them online.
