Sarnia Legion Branch 62's popular Catch the Ace fundraiser is into its 25th week, and $500,000 is up for grabs in Thursday's draw.
The weekly winner will take home 20 per cent of Thursday's sales, and the chance to win the grand prize if they choose the lucky envelope containing the ace of spades.
President Les Jones is excited with how quickly the pot has grown and by the positive response from the community.
"Obviously, we hope it grows bigger but we're very, very pleased with the way it's going this time," said Jones. "We ensure that any charity that receives money from us, as a result of Catch the Ace, that the money stays within Lambton County."
In 2025, the Legion handed out half a million dollars to 35 local community groups with Catch the Ace proceeds.
Jones said the funds have also allowed them to do some much needed improvements at the Legion.
"We've replaced all of our HVAC systems, we got a new patio out front, and we'll be upgrading our parking lot very soon," he said. "We've upgraded our bathrooms to be completely AODA compliant. We redid our upstairs and downstairs kitchens. So, we've been able to improve the building and hopefully it will be good for the next 20 to 30 years."
Tickets are sold every Thursday at the Legion at 286 Front St. N in Sarnia from noon until 7:30 p.m., and the draw is done shortly after that.
Last year's fundraiser was 36 weeks and brought in a whopping $2.1 million.
The lucky winner, local resident and 1st Hussars veteran Jack Swanson, took home $718,154 after selecting envelope number 27.
The 2024 fundraiser generated a total of $654,910 over 46 weeks.
