Hogs for Hospice 50/50 prize now over $50,000

By Mark Ribble

LEAMINGTON — The first ever Hogs for Hospice 50/50 draw will be held this weekend and someone will walk away over $53,000 richer.

With the prize growing every hour, organizers hope that the final three days will bump the amount up even more.

“Here’s an opportunity to hopefully change one family’s lives,” said Hogs Committee member Joe Oswald.

The draw would have been a great addition to the annual Hogs for Hospice Motorcycle Rally, which should have been held on the Civic Holiday weekend.

According to Oswald, the 50/50 draw was already in place, long before the rally and concert events had to be cancelled due to COVID-19.

“We had everything ready to go and were going to be selling electronic tickets down at the park,” said Oswald. “For this year, it will just be through the website.”

While it’s unclear how much could have been raised given the massive crowds at Seacliff Park, the committee is happy with the results so far.

They’ve had tickets available for three weeks and the draw will become an annual fundraiser to coincide with the big event.

As for the committee, they found the Civic Holiday weekend to be unusually quiet this year. The committee members met on the Saturday morning at the amphitheatre to reminisce and have coffee.

“We were able to share memories, stories and how this annual event has truly changed our lives,” said Oswald. “We stayed there for about an hour and a half.”

The challenge for the group this year was to keep busy helping the community.

They chose to pitch in and help other groups who were trying to make a difference in the community.

“We helped out at the June 27th Miracle,” said Oswald. “We’re here to help any other organization that needs help.”

The Hogs t-shirt team recently helped out with the gardening at Erie Shores Hospice as well.

“We are so thankful to this community for their support and loyalty,” said Oswald.

Meanwhile, plans for the 2021 Hogs for Hospice Motorcycle Rally are moving full steam ahead. All four bands that were booked for 2020 have committed to performing in 2021.

“We’ve got lots of surprises in store for next year,” said Oswald.

The committee is also happy that they were able to obtain the services of Ascend Fundraising Solutions, who are setting up and administering the 50/50 draw.

“We did our homework and found the best company out there to handle this draw,” said Oswald.

Ascend is responsible for many fundraising draws, such as the 50/50 draws for major sports teams like the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs. They also recently handled a 50/50 draw for the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, which raised almost $300,000.

And on Friday, August 14, Ascend will draw one number out of the thousands entered and that will make one lucky person very happy.

It will also make Joe Oswald and his committee very happy. “That’s what it’s all about,” he said. You still have time to enter the draw at www.hogsforhospice.com