Chase the Ace Sydney charities to get millions of dollars

Chase the Ace Sydney made Kathy McPherson a multimillionaire overnight and now organizers behind the event are crunching the numbers to determine how much money the charities will get.

Forty per cent of ticket sales from each Chase the Ace event goes to the Ashby Legion Branch 138. The legion will be giving a portion of its take to the Horizon Achievement Centre so it can build a new facility.

"We just need the time to be able to sort out expenses and really just finalize exactly what that breakdown will be and what it will look like," Chase the Ace Sydney organizer Stephen Tobin told CBC News Sunday.

'Highest raffle lottery in Atlantic Canada'

"We're talking millions of dollars between the two. I think it's safe to say both organizations will be walking away with substantial amounts of money," he said.

"I think we earned the title of the highest raffle lottery jackpot in Atlantic Canada and I think we're even a contender for that title across the country. We're very, very, very pleased."

How the money will be spent

Tobin, who is also the business development officer for the Horizon Achievement Centre, says the legion will use the Chase the Ace money to look at ways to improve its facility and will continue to give back to the community,

He says the Horizon Achievement Centre, a nonprofit organization that offers job training and employment services to adults with intellectual disabilities, is looking to build an $8-million new state of the art facility adjacent to Open Hearth Park.

An increased profile

Carol Pendergast, executive director of the Horizon Achievement Centre, spent Saturday volunteering at Chase the Ace at the Joan Harris Pavilion. She says Chase the Ace helped highlight the work done by the organization.

"We went into this opportunity with a chance to not just raise funds for the organizations, but to increase the profile of the campaign and the abilities of the people that we serve," said Pendergast.

'Laughter in the air'

"By all those accounts, it certainly has exceeded our expectations," she said, "The volunteers that were doing the thousands of thousands of tickets, selling and splitting, there was so much laughter in the air. It was amazing to me."

Pendergast says the Horizon Achievement Centre managed to raise $250,000 internally. She says once the nonprofit finds out how much it's getting from Chase the Ace, its next step will be to reach out to all three levels of government for more support.