Sweet fundraiser needs help

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This article was published 04/12/2023 (708 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A year after raffling off bags of a hard-to-find snack for charity, the People of Brandon Facebook group has returned with a contest for another scarce item.

In 2022, the group raised $485 by raffling bags of Bugles after their manufacturer pulled them from Canadian shelves.

After some of the draws, some of the winners donated their bags back to the contest organizers so they could be raffled off again.

“The whole situation with that was unplanned and unexpected,” People of Brandon administrator and head elf Amber Burchart said on Sunday.

Currently, workers at the Rogers Sugar refinery in Vancouver are on strike, which has made bags of their products scarce commodities on grocery store shelves.

With the holiday baking season impending, this year’s “Sugar Waffle” is for a pair of two-kilogram bags of Rogers white granulated sugar.

Since Facebook officially prohibits gambling and raffles on its platform, the group has to be careful what terms they use to prevent posts about the contest from being pulled down.

One entry in the raffle can be purchased for $2, while a $5 contribution gets you three spots in the draw.

Burchart said entries in this year’s event haven’t been as popular this year and they’re hoping more people support the initiative before entries close at 9 p.m. on Monday.

As of Sunday afternoon, just 39 entries and $65 had been raised. Half of the money will go to Brandon and Westman Christmas Cheer and the other towards filling the five Christmas hampers the group has volunteered to provide.

Donations to the group’s annual Christmas hampers have also been much slower than normal.

They’ve volunteered to fill five hampers for seven people this year and at this point, Burchart said she’s worried they’ll have to tell Brandon and Westman Christmas Cheer they can only provide two.

“We’re pushing ahead with stuff as best we can,” she said.

Updates for both initiatives are in pinned posts in the People of Brandon Facebook group.

Entries in the raffle can be obtained by commenting on the relevant post with the number of entries you’re purchasing.

Once organizers have acknowledged your post, entrants should e-transfer the appropriate amount to pobhhd@hotmail.com with “I love waffles” written in the security question field and “withsyrup” as the answer.

Should 100 entries in the raffle be sold, Burchart is promising to sweeten the pot with other goodies.

For the holiday hamper drive, the pinned post on the initiative contains lists of food and Christmas gifts that still need to be bought.

To donate, you can connect with group administrators by commenting on the pinned post or by sending a message to the official “People of Brandon” admin account.

With Christmas Cheer still looking for people to come forward and adopt a family to provide a hamper for, Burchart encourages anyone to assist them if possible.

» cslark@brandonsun.com

» X: @ColinSlark