Bugles raffle ready for round two

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This article was published 14/12/2022 (1329 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Christmas raffle for bags of a hard-to-find snack run by a local Facebook group is preparing for round two after the winners donated their prizes back to organizers.

The so-called “Great Bugles Waffle,” carefully named to avoid Facebook’s prohibitions on raffles held on the platform, raised $370 by selling 221 tickets to win one of two bags of Bugles up for grabs.

The cone-shaped corn snack that was a staple of many families’ nuts-and-bolts Christmas snack mixes was discontinued in Canada earlier this year and has become a coveted item for people heading down to the United States for shopping.

Half of the money raised is destined for Brandon and Westman Christmas Cheer, while the other half, according to People of Brandon group administrator Amber Burchart, allowed for the group to complete the 10 Christmas hampers they were preparing for local families.

“We’re happy for the support from everyone in the community,” Burchart said. “We’re just as surprised that people chose to gift the two bags back.”

After Lauren Wilken and Laura Brown were drawn as winners last Sunday, Burchart said both winners asked raffle organizers to keep the bags for another raffle.

On top of that, Amy McDonald’s family had received six bags of Bugles from someone shopping down south.

Four of those bags were given to friends with the last two intended for her family to enjoy. However, McDonald’s sons Cooper and Mason made a case for donating the bags to the fundraiser instead.

“I put a few feelers out there to my friends who were going to the States to grab some Bugles, and I was lucky enough to have a couple of friends bring me some,” McDonald told the Sun. “We decided as a family that we would just use something else in our nuts and bolts and donate these instead … I knew they were in short demand. We try to do something every year as a family because we’ve tried to teach our kids that Christmas is about giving to others. It got a little hard during the pandemic because you were limited in what you could do, but this seemed like a super simple no-brainer because someone will get their nuts and bolts the way they love to do them and someone will get some money for a good cause.”

Round two of the raffle will see three of those four bags up for grabs. The fourth, according to Burchart, will be used for a future project to spread joy in the community. An announcement will be made through the group sometime soon.

Because People of Brandon administrators were able to complete hampers for their adopted families, the money raised in round two will be split between Christmas Cheer and the Men’s Resource Centre.

As with round one, those interested in participating need to find the pinned post for round two in the Facebook group and make a comment listing how many tickets they’d like to buy. It’s $2 for one ticket and $5 for three tickets.

After you make a comment, send an e-transfer for the correct amount of money to pobhhd@hotmail.com with the security question listed as “I love waffles” and the answer “withsyrup.”

The draw is scheduled for Dec. 20 at 9 p.m.

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