Co-op Order of Merit to be awarded

WELLINGTON – Oct. 9, 2014 – Those who enjoy gambling will soon have the opportunity to play several games and to win a great variety of prizes during a benefit casino for the Summerside Salvation Army Food Bank.

This evening of gaming, which takes place Saturday, Oct. 25, starting at 8:30 p.m. at Wellington Royal Canadian Legion, is being organized in collaboration with the Wellington Fire Department as a major event of Co-op and Small Business Weeks.

More than $2,000 worth of prizes are up for grabs during the evening. Among the top prizes are a family hotel package (two nights, two breakfasts and a chef’s dinner for four people), the services of a contractor, a quantity of lobster (or other fish), a large electric heater, gasoline, car washes, a barbecue set, a backpack, a comforter, office supplies, theatrical tickets and more.

“For the last couple of years, we organized a Let’s Make a Deal game show night, so this year, we thought we’d try something a bit different,” notes Angèle Arsenault, president of the Conseil de développement coopératif, one of the organizing partners of the evening. “We’ll have our very own Wellington fire fighters hosting the various gambling games on a volunteer basis.”

“We hope a large number of people will turn out to have fun but mostly to support the food bank, which needs an ever-increasing amount of food for less fortunate people in our communities,” she said.

Arsenault adds that again this year, “we’ll take a few moments during the evening to present the Co-op Order of Merit to a deserving co-operator.”

SIMPLE CONCEPT

The concept of the evening will be quite simple. As they arrive, guests will be invited to make a monetary donation, in the amount of their choice, to the food bank. In exchange for their donation, they will receive a lottery ticket and a packet of play money that they can then spend at a variety of gambling games. Those wishing to buy more packets of play money can do so throughout the event.

At the end of the evening, with the play money they still have or that they have won, participants will be able to buy lottery tickets. Each of the prizes will have its own little lottery, so people will be able to chose which lottery or lotteries they would like to participate in. The draws will then be made.

The event will be open to adults only since a bar service will be available.

The casino is being organized by various partners from the co-op and economic development sector: the Conseil de développement coopératif, Evangeline-Central Credit Union, Wellington Co-op, The Co-operators, the Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce of PEI, the Wellington Rural Action Centre and RDÉE Prince Edward Island.

The main prize contributors are AJL Construction, Rodd Hotels, Arsenault’s Fish Mart, Wellington Construction, Farm Credit Canada and Wellington Esso.

Cavendish Figurines, HMS Office Supplies, Acadian Fishermen’s Co-op, Le Soleil Oublié Theatre Group as well as the event organizers will also contribute smaller prizes.

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CUTLINE: Seen getting ready for the Oct. 25 fundraising casino at Wellington Legion are representatives of three of the organizing partners: Raymond J. Arsenault from the Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce of PEI, Diane McInnis from Evangeline-Central Credit Union and Ève-Alexandra St-Laurent from the Wellington Rural Action Centre.

 

For more information:

Raymond J. Arsenault
Coordinator
Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce of PEI
(902) 854-3439, Ext. 231
raymond@rdeeipe.org