For more than a two decades, Russell’s Take a Year Off Lottery has been one of our major fundraisers for area facilities and projects. At the same time, it’s one of the most talked about lotteries in our area.
This year, the ‘locals’ have a bit more to talk about as several of the tickets drawn out of the drum held their names.
For their 2025 draw, the lottery was 109 tickets short of a sell-out while at the same time, the 50/50 draw continues to grow year after year.
“Including a 50/50 draw was an idea the committee came up with in 2009,” committee member Chris Radford said. “I think the first 50/50 draw was around $5,000 so to be up over $29,000, certainly shows the value of doing it, adding to the monies we can payout to the benefactors every year.” Each year, when they receive their portion of the funds raised, each benefactor receives a break down of all the expenses and the revenues.
“And of course, we give those same numbers to the province every year for their audit to make sure that we’re following all the rules.”

Get the whole story in this week's Russell Banner.