Two dream homes, cash up for grabs
Alberta Cancer Foundation launches fundraising lottery
The Alberta Cancer Foundation launched its two annual fundraising lotteries Thursday.
You Win 50 is a 50/ 50 draw with a minimum prize of $ 320,000 and a maximum prize of $ 800,000. The Cash and Cars lottery has three grand prizes and two early bird prizes available if you buy tickets before Sept. 23.
This year will feature two dream homes, one in Calgary, which comes with a car and $ 10,000, and one in Edmonton which also has a vehicle in the garage and cash. Other prizes include cash, vehicles, vacations and jewelry.
The Alberta Cancer Foundation launched the 16th annual lottery at the Calgary grand prize house, inviting Dr. Jan- Willem Henning, an oncologist at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, and Mary Beth Eckersley, a two- time cancer survivor, to share their stories.
Dr. Henning spoke about the importance of clinical trials in cancer research. Alberta Cancer Foundation CEO Myka Osinchuk says the foundation puts money toward all the clinical trials in the province.
“The Alberta Cancer Foundation funds all the clinical trials. We provide the infrastructure,” Osinchuk said. “So in the last five years, more than 6,000 Albertans have participated in clinical trials and we’ve been alongside each one of them.”
The foundation donates to all 17 cancer centres in the province and plans to commit some money to the new cancer centre in Calgary when the Alberta government releases more details. Osinchuk said she anticipates they will know more when the provincial budget is released in the fall.
“We know that the government is working on the budget and the final details about the location on the Foothills site,” Osinchuk said.
“So we’re very much looking forward to understanding what those details are and participating on behalf of our donors and investing in the new cancer centre.”
In 2014, the two lotteries brought in $ 929,237 after expenses. Last year, the prizes cost the foundation a total of $ 2,631,792 while marketing and other expenses came to $ 1,627,883.
Daryl Silzer, the associate vicepresident of fund development with the Alberta Cancer Foundation, said that lotteries can be expensive to run but raise valuable awareness about cancer research.
“Unfortunately 43 Albertans hear the words, ‘ You have cancer,’ every single day ... and this lottery, yes you have the opportunity to win great prizes, but it’s also going to help to promote that we are out there, through the Tom Baker, through the Cross Cancer Institute, trying to make a difference,” Silzer said, naming two of the 17 cancer centres in the province that the foundation supports.
“And this lottery helps get that message out there, that our researchers and our medical oncologists are working every day to make a difference in the lives of people facing that cancer diagnosis.”
The early bird ticket sale deadline is Sept. 23 and the draw on Oct. 8. The You Win 50 and Cash and Cars deadline is Oct. 15.
The 50/ 50 draw is Nov. 2 and the Cash and Cars draw is Nov. 15. Ticket buyers are eligible for every draw.