For this season of the lottery Catch the Ace of the Kin Club of Russell, the jackpot is now bigger than it has ever been, making it one of the biggest Catch the Ace in Ontario. The goal of Catch the Ace is to raise funds for charities and non-for-profits in the region through a distribution of the amount raised during the lottery between the lottery participant and the participating charities, in the likes of a 50|50 lottery. Every lottery buyer chooses a charity they want to support and the funds are redistributed at the end of the season during the end-of-season gala.

With the number of participating charities and non-for-profits getting bigger every season, and some of the new participants being larger organizations, the lottery attracts more buyers, which puts the jackpot much higher than before. This helps bring courage back to the local organizations. As Doug Anthony, the chair of Catch the Ace (Kin Club of Russell) mentions that for some of the charities and non-for-profits, “it’s actually keeping them alive”. For some of the larger organizations the lottery is taking under its wing, the lottery helps them offer more and more services. Mr. Anthony adds “everybody’s doing really well, very proud of all of them”.

As of August 11, the lottery is at its 38th week with the last winner having won 38 576$ and the jackpot has now accumulated to 953 000$, with the amount raised for charities hitting the million dollar mark at 1 210 000$.