Local News
EMMS selling raffle tickets with three amazing prizes for three amazing causes
École Morden Middle School is selling raffle tickets to, in part, raise money for a new play structure to replace an aging structure at the school. Parent Advisory Council (PAC) President Jeri Martens explained. "The play structure here, some of the teachers have said it's been here since they attended the school, so I won't point out how old some of them are, but it is getting to be quite old. The vice principal says she picks quite a few slivers a day, taking them out, so for safety reasons, obviously it does need to come down. We do have quite a few kids that are on it and using it, and so a play structure in a school is very important. The kids need time to play. They need stuff to climb on. They need to be outside. So, it's absolutely a really good thing to do." The price tag for the new structure is $80,000. Martens said $50,000 of that money has already been raised through grants and other fundraisers. Each student from EMMS has been given a ticket book to sell with incentives to earn more ballots to put into a draw to win a school hoody or t-shirt and top three selling classrooms getting pizza parties. But Martens said there are some amazing prizes to be won by ticket buyers as well. "Our top prize for this is a trip for two to any Winnipeg Jets game in any part of North America, I believe, two jerseys, and hotel stay, and some spending money, and airfare. Second prize is a Q Lake Lodge fishing package. It's three nights for six people and you get a private cabin, and a boat is included, and you get an introductory guided tour on day one. The third place (prize) is a Thermea spa package worth $1000." Plus, for every ticket sold, buyers can use it for a buy one/get one free green fee at Minnewasta Golf and Country Club and Carman Golf courses. PAC Treasurer Cathy Dueck added a second structure is really important at EMMS, and this new one in particular. "So, we also come to the issue where we have 750 students who will be using, once that wooden place structure is down, one play structure. The one existing play structure also is not accessible. And so, our goal is to get a play structure now that is safe and accessible for all students. And this is also something that benefits the community because, as we all know, playgrounds can be used outside of school hours for the community. So, to be a safe and accessible play structure for the entire community to use, it is really exciting and also really important for it to go up here in Morden." While a portion of ticket sales from the 5000 tickets available goes to EMMS, the other $15 will be shared by South Central Cancer Resource and Cancer Care Manitoba. Dueck noted she has a personal reason, beyond the play structure, for people to buy tickets. "So, it's a really great way to support everybody in the community, regardless of if you have a kid at EMMS or not. I personally just went through breast cancer this year. I'm just finishing up my treatments and so I can very personally vouch for both of these organizations. My treatment would have looked a lot different if it were for organizations like Cancer Care continuously doing research. So very, very grateful and so we're really excited about this fundraiser because it benefits so many people in our community." Contact EMMS or a student at EMMS to buy tickets and to support these three causes.