THUNDER BAY — A city resident has won the inaugural Friends of the Library 50/50 jackpot, which organizers say could be a ‘game-changer’ for the Thunder Bay Public Library.
Paige Martin won the more than $41,000 jackpot on Tuesday in the online 50/50 draw, organized by the volunteer-run Friends of the Library organization, which has supported the library in various ways for more than 35 years.
In its history, the organization has raised more than $1 million for the Thunder Bay Public Library.
“This is our first venture into something that we though would be great, and it turned out to be exactly that,” said Adrian Digiuseppe, a member of Friends of the Library. “I have to tell you we did a really good job on this as far as the community has participated. Everyone has really bought in, as you could say, into this new venture.
About 288,000 tickets were sold during the December draw.
With this success, the 50/50 draw will become a monthly event.
“This is not a one and done,” said Digiuseppe.
Library chief executive officer, Richard Togman, said the draw is huge for the Thunder Bay Public Library.
As a government-run organization, the library could never run a lottery or any type of event that required a gaming license, said Togman.
“What makes this particularly unique is that it's the Friends of the Library,” he said. “So it's an outside organization, all run by volunteers that have really stepped up to say that they care about the library and they're going to put their money where their mouth is, so to speak. They're going to do the work and help us raise money and so this is transformational.”
Togman said through this first raffle, “we heard back in a big way that the community wants to support the library.”
The money raised for the library will be used to increase children’s programming, purchase new books for the library and also allow for investments in the library’s buildings.
Tickets for the January 50/50 can be purchased online.
