A good state of cash and prizes were up for grabs in the Stanton Territorial Hospital Foundation's Rev Up and Ride Raffle, but the big winner was the hospital itself.
The draw for all of the goodies happened at Yellowknife Motors on June 16 with the grand prize on offer being a 2025 GMC Sierra 1500 sponsored by Yellowknife Motors. That was won by Stanley Sanguez of Jean Marie River.
Second prize went to Lee-Ann Ellsworth, who won herself a 2025 Ski-Doo Expedition SE 900 sponsored by Outdoor Experts, while Nicholas Thibault won a 2025 Can Am Outlander 700 Max XT, courtesy of Outdoor Experts, as third prize.
When it came to the cash, there was a 50/50 draw which ended up reaching $142,440. The lucky winner of that was Noel Talaver, who pocketed a cool $71,220.
Patty Olexin-Lang, the foundation's executive director, said all prizes have been claimed and it was nice to have winners from outside of Yellowknife.
"We have numerous patients from around the NWT who come to the hospital for whatever reason and we're grateful for all the support we received from the communities this year," she said. "We're so thankful to our sponsors and to anyone who bought tickets. We had people who bought dozens of tickets."
She added that the 50/50 total was the highest ever, shattering last year's total of around $94,000.
The final numbers for this year's raffle weren't tabulated as of press time, but Olexin-Lang said the proceeds will go toward helping purchase items not usually budgeted for.
"Specifically, pieces of equipment that will enhance what the hospital can provide," she said. "It could be training equipment for a specialist, small ultrasound probes, a human patient simulator for staff education - anything that can be purchased that we don't already have."
Next up for the foundation is the CIBC Run For Our Lives Mud Run 2025, which is set to happen on Sept. 13 at the Yellowknife Ski Club.
Registration opened for this year's event on May 10 and to help sweeten the pot, so to speak, Olexin-Lang said there are incentive prizes for those who raise the right amounts of money.
You can visit mudrunyk.ca to get all the details and register.
