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Co-op stores 50-50 lottery ends with Sobeys deal

Co-op Atlantic pensions could be slashed by as much as 30%

Dozens of community groups on Prince Edward Island will have to find new ways of raising funds after changes to Charlottetown's Co-op grocery stores.

The member's 50-50 lottery, which raised hundreds of thousand of dollars for charity each year, has ended.

Last year, members at the Queen Street and Walker Drive Co-ops in Charlottetown bought enough $2 50-50 tickets to raise more than $400,000, half of which went to 30 to 40 Island charities.

Reg Shields was on the Charlottetown Food Markets Advisory Council, the group that managed the 50-50 money.

"I can tell you, with that amount of money going to charities and the charities not getting supported as they were before, it's going to make quite a difference in some of them," he said.

Shields said the lottery licence was issued to Co-op Atlantic and so is no longer valid for the Walker Drive store, now owned by Sobeys. The Queen Street store is closing.

Final donations mailed

The final pool of money is currently being mailed out.

Some of the groups that received funds included Children's Wish of P.E.I., Camp Gencheff, Special Olympics P.E.I., Volunteer Resource Centre, P.E.I. Council of People with Disabilities and a number of school breakfast programs.

Pat and the Elephant, Charlottetown's accessible transportation service, received its final $2,000 donation last week.

Board president Blair Thompson says it may not sound like much, but every additional dollar is a challenge to raise.

"The economy the way it is right now, no matter, it's difficult for all the different non-profits to make ends meet," he said.

"And as a Co-op member myself, you know, every time you'd go in, you knew that the money was going to the community and so it was just an automatic for most of us."

The 50-50 lottery is still available at the independently owned Co-op stores on the Island.

Correction : This story previously said Sobeys bought three corporate stores on P.E.I. but it only bought two. (Jun 30, 2015 5:31 AM)