Thunder Bay hospital 50/50 jackpot closes in on $1 million
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'We're going to shatter that,' foundation CEO Glenn Craig says.
THUNDER BAY — When the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation launched its 50/50 draw last January, president and CEO Glenn Craig quietly hoped for a jackpot topping $100,000.
As it turned out, with an extended ticket sales period of six weeks, the jackpot ballooned to $966,000.
That hasn't been achieved since.
But with over two weeks left for the final draw of the year, the grand prize is virtually certain to surpass $1 million for the first time.
As of Wednesday morning, it stood at $920,000.
"We're going to shatter that, no problem," Craig says. "It's unbelievable. We're overwhelmed by the support."
One measure of the lottery's success is a similar 50/50 held monthly by the Health Sciences North Foundation in Sudbury.
The nickel city area has a much larger population than Thunder Bay, but as of Wednesday its hospital jackpot was only half the size, $460,000.
The looming seven-figure prize for TBR Health Sciences Foundation's Dec. 31 draw is "beyond scale," Craig said.
He acknowledged that many people are buying tickets for Christmas presents, but said the support throughout the year also reflects the region's recognition of the importance of local access to high-level health care.
"You go into the community and it's hard to find somebody that hasn't used the services of Thunder Bay Regional for one thing or another. I think we've been able to demonstrate the impact of the support."
The draw for the next early bird prize is Fri. Dec. 17.
There's a bonus early bird prize of $10,000, with a draw date of Dec. 29.
The grand prize will be awarded on New Year's Eve.
