AMHERST – The Amherst CIBC Wood Gundy Ramblers are asking its Toonie Draw players to be careful when playing the weekly draw.
With the arrival of the VON Lucky Loonie Draw and the start of the Cumberland County Hospice and Palliative Care Society’s Toonies for Hospice draw, there’s likely to be confusion among players of all three fundraisers.
Ramblers treasurer Allan Chapman said the onus is ultimately on the players to make sure they are putting the right coins in the right box.
“It’s the player’s responsibility to make sure they’re depositing their money in the right box now that there are several draws,” Chapman said. “We are having instances where people are coming in complaining they put their Toonie in the wrong box and they wanted us to get them out. The Ramblers don’t have access to the other organization’s boxes and it’s not our responsibility to make sure people put their coins in the right box. That’s the responsibility of the player.”
Chapman said it’s also important for players participating in the Ramblers Toonie Draw to use the Rambler stickers on their money. Same thing goes for those playing the VON and hospice draws.
Many of the retailers participating in the draws are putting each of the organization’s boxes close to each other. Even though the Ramblers boxes are purple, the VON boxes blue and hospice boxes yellow some people are still getting mixed up.
Chapman said he has asked retailers to try to keep them separate, but the decision rests when them since the boxes are located in their place of business.
Since the VON draw started several weeks ago, Chapman said the Ramblers have been finding Loonies from their contest in the purple boxes while the VON has been finding Toonies in their blue boxes. He said the organizations are working together to avoid confusion, but he said those participating in the draws need to take care when playing their numbers.
The Ramblers Toonie Draw has been operating for several years and has been making $12,000 or $13,000 each draw. It has more than 20,000 numbers in play, but the number of players playing each week fluctuates depending on the prize.
While much of the money goes into operating the draw and the team, the Ramblers have shared the proceeds with other groups in the community such as minor soccer, minor hockey and Little League Baseball.
It has also supported benefits in the community and at Christmas worked with Autumn House to provide gifts to needy families in Cumberland County.
It’s something the team plans to continue.
In the last year that has amounted to more than $15,000.
The VON draw has a winner each week with its proceeds going to support programs such as adult day care and Meals on Wheels. The hospice draw will support the operation of a free-standing hospice-palliative care facility on West Victoria Street.
Twitter: @ADNdarrell
