Moosomin Elks raise over $24,000 for Playfair Daycare
December 1, 2025, 2:24 pm
Kara Kinna
The Moosomin Elks Club made a $24,400 donation to Playfair Daycare last week with proceeds raised from their 50/50 draw, as well as from their 75th anniversary celebration.
“For our 75th anniversary we decided we wanted to make a splash of some sort, and we knew that the new daycare needed some money. So we decided to run a 50/50 with one winner and it did really well,” says Ron Potter with the Moosomin Elks. “We had 2,500 tickets to sell, and we sold over 2,000 right here in Moosomin. Probably 75 per cent of them were sold at the Co-op grocery store just from people walking in and deciding to support us.”
In total the 50/50 draw made $20,800 with half of the proceeds going to local winner Tracy Russell.
Ron Potter, left, and Larry Tomlinson, right, with the Moosomin Elks presenting Tracy Russell with her 50/50 winnings last week.Potter says the Elks decided to top of the $10,400 from the 50/50 with additional money raised from the silent auction at their 75th anniversary celebration, as well as some of their own donation money.
“We were discussing at our meeting the other night, and decided that the money raised from our silent auction at the 75th anniversary party would also go to the daycare. So we had the lottery money, plus the $4,400, so we thought why don’t we make it an even $20,000 plus the $4,000 from the auction, so that’s where we came up with the total of $24,400.
“Our lottery licence only lets the daycare use the money we give for toys, or tables and chairs, or playground equipment, but not for building supplies. Any equipment that they may need for inside the building, I’m glad we’re able to help with that,” he said.
“I think it’s a very worthwhile project, and the boys are pretty happy with the work we’ve done and the money we’ve raised. We generally do something like this every fall, and this year I think we’ve contributed to something that was really needed,” said Larry Tomlinson with Moosomin Elks Lodge.
Jill Jones with Playfair Daycare says that they were thrilled to receive the donation, and that progress on the new building has been steady.
“We’re really happy to get this money from the Elks for the capital investment in the new building. If anyone hasn’t driven by, we encourage you to take a peak south of the elementary school. There are some walls going up and the rafters were also just put in today,” she said last week. “We’re hoping this nice fall weather continues and we can get a bit more done and gain some ground before any big snowfall. The donation for toys and other things like that is going to be really helpful, because we all know how hard kids can be on toys. With this money, hopefully we can also put some of it toward the backyard and make that a really good space for the kids.”
Potter added that selling the 50/50 tickets was a team effort by the Elks and the Daycare.
“Originally the daycare girls took 25 books of tickets, and after not too long they’d turned around and were saying they needed more. I was trying to sell as much as I can to make some money for them and they sold twice as much as us old guys!
“I’d really like to thank anyone who bought tickets, and I’d like to thank all the businesses that let us sell tickets at their locations, especially Red Barn and the Co-op. The funny thing was, Tracy’s ticket that won was a ticket that her employer had bought for her. I was really impressed with the community and that everyone around here was on board. I set a target for myself of 2,000 tickets sold, and we ended up getting to around 2,080.
“One thing that really showed me how far kindness can spread is that during our Walk-a-thon this year, we had a group from Nipawin that had come down. They donated $750 right to the daycare. That’s why I love being part of the Elks, they had seen that we were trying to raise money, and that made them want to help out and give some money as well,” he said.
Playfair Daycare says that they are still looking for more ways to fundraise for the new building.
“We’re still coming up with ideas and still looking into different ways we can raise some money for our new building. We have a very new team, and are having meetings to figure out the best way to approach fundraising. Ways we can send the message to businesses in town, that we can do as much for them as they can to help us,” said Jones.
“We greatly appreciate groups like the Elks being able to help us out, and for believing in us. We thank everyone who has supported us and continues to support us in this project,” added Terri Lowe from the daycare.
Potter also noted that he was glad the winner came from Moosomin.
“I was hoping we’d have a local winner, just because that’s where our target was. This is a very local project, and so I was happy to see we had a winner from here in town who was very deserving of the prize.” Tweet
