Chatham-Kent residents have the chance to help keep kids active on the ice and possibly win some cash while doing so.
The Chatham Ringette Association's first-ever online 50/50 raffle fundraiser is underway and over 10,000 tickets have already been sold.
Proceeds will support the association's Learn to Skate program for young children as well as the ringette house leagues and travel team for kids aged 4 to 19.
"Every year we have a ticket-selling system and we decided to put that by the wayside and jump on the 50/50 raffle bandwagon," said Chatham Ringette spokesperson Lachlan Kennedy. "Every year we do these ticket fundraisers and the goal is to keep ringette affordable for families. We want everybody to be able to play."
Ringette is a winter sport that's as challenging as it is enjoyable.
According to Kennedy, the sport was created by Sam Jacks in 1963 and has since been dubbed the fastest sport on ice.
"The main objective of ringette is to use a stick to hit a ring into the opposing team's goal," said Kennedy. "The team with the highest score at the end wins."
The association hopes to reach its goal of $20,000 by Tuesday, January 31. At last check over $6,000 in ticket purchases had been raised so far.
"We believe that everyone should be able to play these sports and this fundraiser will certainly help assists us in allowing more people to do so," said Kennedy. "The amount has almost tripled in the last few days."
Tickets can be bought online through the Chatham Ringette Association's raffle website.Residents can purchase 100 tickets for $50, 20 tickets for $20, three tickets for $10, or one ticket for $5.
Three winners will be drawn on Wednesday, February 1. The draw will be live-streamed on the Chatham Ringette Facebook page.