Carleton Place man wins almost $62K with Catch the Ace

Wayne Shaver may live in Carleton Place, but he had no problem driving to Pembroke recently in order to pick up a cheque for $61,921 after his ticket proved to the most recent winner of the Catch the Ace contest sponsored by the Pembroke Regional Hospital Foundation (PRH) Cancer Care Campaign.

It took 20 weeks and some bumps along the way, but Shaver was happy that his luck held out with his winning ticket proved to be the lucky card.

The lucky winner was a little overwhelmed when he found out he needed to come back to Pembroke so that he could claim his winnings, but it also allowed him to figure out what to do with his sudden windfall.  

“I am happy to support the hospital,” he said. “I played most weeks and never thought I would win! My wife and I think we will take a vacation somewhere warm to celebrate.”

PRH Foundation executive director Roger Martin was thrilled when he found out about the most recent winner and said the lottery not only benefits the winner, but the proceeds help those seeking medical services in several departments associated with PRH.

“This campaign will fund the expansion and upgrade of our Pharmacy and Chemotherapy/ Medical Day Care units at PRH,” he said. “Congratulations to our winner Wayne and thank you to everyone who supported this lottery and purchased tickets each week.”

The last 20 weeks of the most recent version of the PRH Catch the Ace lottery has certainly had its unwanted share of misfortune along the way.

On July 12, following a series of robberies, the PRH Foundation made the painful decision to close its remote ticket selling kiosks was broken into and various items were either stolen or damaged. The remote ticket-purchasing kiosk was broken into twice over a two-week period in late June and early July.

The first incident occurred between June 21 and 25 and again sometime between July 5 and July 8. Leigh Costello, community fundraising specialist at PRH, said the thefts and damage forced the Foundation to make the painful decision to close its drive-thru ticket kiosk for its Catch the Ace lottery.

“The last week of June, the drive thru kiosk was broken into,” Costello said. “We had a small amount of cash stolen as well as the sales tablet that we use, printer, and some minor damage was done as well to the kiosk. Less than two weeks later, we had a second break-in at the kiosk, same situation and we felt like it was our only option to close.”

Despite those challenges, the Catch the Ace lottery continued on and for the approximately 100 people who went to the kiosk to buy their tickets, it was an inconvenience but the ticket sales continued at a steady pace until Shaver’s ticket was drawn.

However, the PRH Foundation is happy to announce that they will be hosting another Catch the Ace lottery very soon, Costello said as she presented the cheque to the most recent winner.

“We are so thrilled with the success of our past Catch the Ace lotteries and how the community rallied around to support this event and cause,” said Costello. “We couldn't have done it without all of our volunteers and community supporters who helped us spread the word and sell tickets each week. We are so excited to see local residents get behind our next draw.”  

The date for the next contest has not been announced, but Shaver said whenever the first week is announced, he will be purchasing tickets again in order to help support this worthwhile cause. He added you never win unless you play, which proved to be the case for him.