RELEASE: Life Long Port Colborne Resident Take Home $20,520 in Winnings!
Life long Port Colborne resident takes home $20,520 in winnings
Proceeds from Port Cares Spring Ka-Ching 50 50 Lottery helps charity to purchase food for food bank distribution
(June 5, 2024 - PORT COLBORNE) For Tony Giancola of Port Colborne the twelfth time was the charm. The life long Port Colborne resident has been buying tickets for the Port Cares 50 50 draw since the south Niagara charity rolled out its online 50 50 fundraising program in the fall of 2020 in the midst of the pandemic. Tony takes home $20,520 in winnings from Port Cares Spring Ka-Ching – the agency’s 12th 50 50 lottery raising funds to operate its charity services.
“I couldn’t believe it when the Port Cares people called me to let me know I had won. I hung up from their call then my phone started blowing up all weekend long with calls from friends and family congratulating me,” says Tony who bought his winning ticket the first week of the lottery that kicked off on May 1, 2024.
Port Cares has been running the 50 50 as a vital fundraiser to support the agency’s Reach Out Centre and Food Bank which does not receive any form of government funding and must generate donations and fundraising to assist local individuals and families struggling with low income circumstances. “When we launched the online 50 50 we did so in act of desperation,“ adds Port cares CEO Christine Clark Lafleur noting that while nearly all aspects of normal life were shutdown the charity had to come up with a way to safely raise funds to operate its charitable services. “We hold four 50 50 draws a year and they are just as important now as the draws were when we started.”
All 12 draws together have provided more than $400,000 to ticket buyers -- $373,705 in jackpot winnings and another $26,100 in early bird prizes.
Port Cares next 50 50 kicks off on Canada Day – July 1, 2024 and wraps up on Canal Days weekend in Port Colborne with the jackpot draw taking place on Civic Holiday Monday August 5th at the Port Care ticket booth on West Street, Port Colborne.
Attached photo : Christine Clark Lafleur (left) presents winner Tony Giancola (right)with $20,520.
Since 1986, Port Cares has offered a multitude of services for people, young and old, not only in Port Colborne, but also across Niagara including Lincoln, West Lincoln, Welland, Pelham and Fort Erie. They offer housing, employment training, a foodbank, EarlyON Child and Family Centres, a meal program, utility assistance, counselling and crisis services- as well as seasonal programs like Give a Gift and more. Their services are wide-ranging - the need is undeniable.
QUICK FACTS ABOUT PORT CARES REACH OUT CENTRE:
- Port Cares Reach Out Centre Food bank (ROFC) assists one in 8 local residents.
- A third of the people reliant on the ROFC Food Bank are children.
- The most needed food item donations for the food bank include canned meat, canned fruit, canned vegetables, pasta & sauce, peanut butter, cereal, jam, baby food, formula and diapers, personal hygiene items.
- Last school year the Port Cares Reach Out Food Centre located at 61 Nickel Street, Port Colborne, provided 3,100 lunch kits and more than 15,700 lunches to local school-age elementary and secondary school children who live in low-income households.
- Hot, nutritious community meals are served three times a week to families and individuals in need with more than 90 adults and children typically attend each meal.
Port Cares’ mission is to help those in our community with social and economic needs improve their quality of life. Port Cares’ vision is to provide help, hope and opportunity for all to achieve their potential.
