
Proceeds from Port Cares Spring Ka-Ching 50 50 Lottery
helps charity to purchase food for food bank distribution
(June 5, 2024 - PORT COLBORNE) For Tony Giancola of Port Colborne the twelfth time
was the charm. The life long Port Colborne resident has been buying tickets for the Port
Cares 50 50 draw since the south Niagara charity rolled out its online 50 50 fundraising
program in the fall of 2020 in the midst of the pandemic. Tony takes home $20,520 in
winnings from Port Cares Spring Ka-Ching – the agency’s 12th 50 50 lottery raising funds to
operate its charity services.
“I couldn’t believe it when the Port Cares people called me to let me know I had won. I
hung up from their call then my phone started blowing up all weekend long with calls from
friends and family congratulating me,” says Tony who bought his winning ticket the first
week of the lottery that kicked off on May 1, 2024.
Port Cares has been running the 50 50 as a vital fundraiser to support the agency’s Reach
Out Centre and Food Bank which does not receive any form of government funding and
must generate donations and fundraising to assist local individuals and families struggling
with low income circumstances. “When we launched the online 50 50 we did so in act of
desperation, “adds Port cares CEO Christine Clark Lafleur noting that while nearly all
aspects of normal life were shutdown the charity had to come up with a way to safely raise
funds to operate its charitable services. “We hold four 50 50 draws a year and they are just
as important now as the draws were when we started.”
All 12 draws together have provided more than $400,000 to ticket buyers -- $373,705 in jackpot
winnings and another $26,100 in early bird prizes.
Port Cares next 50 50 kicks off on Canada Day – July 1, 2024 and wraps up on Canal Days
weekend in Port Colborne with the jackpot draw taking place on Civic Holiday Monday August 5th
at the Port Care ticket booth on West Street, Port Colborne.
Since 1986, Port Cares has offered a multitude of services for people, young and old, not only in
Port Colborne, but also across Niagara including Lincoln, West Lincoln, Welland, Pelham and Fort
Erie. They offer housing, employment training, a foodbank, EarlyON Child and Family Centres, a
meal program, utility assistance, counselling and crisis services- as well as seasonal programs like
Give a Gift and more. Their services are wide-ranging - the need is undeniable.
QUICK FACTS ABOUT PORT CARES REACH OUT CENTRE:
• Port Cares Reach Out Centre Food bank (ROFC) assists one in 8 local residents.
• A third of the people reliant on the ROFC Food Bank are children.
• The most needed food item donations for the food bank include canned meat, canned fruit,
canned vegetables, pasta & sauce, peanut butter, cereal, jam, baby food, formula and
diapers, personal hygiene items.
• Last school year the Port Cares Reach Out Food Centre located at 61 Nickel Street, Port
Colborne, provided 3,100 lunch kits and more than 15,700 lunches to local school-age
elementary and secondary school children who live in low-income households.
• Hot, nutritious community meals are served three times a week to families and individuals in
need with more than 90 adults and children typically attend each meal.
Port Cares’ mission is to help those in our community with social and economic needs improve their quality of life. Port
Cares’ vision is to provide help, hope and opportunity for all to achieve their potential.