Another year of 50/50 For Change has come to pass, and the lucky winner, along with the Legion, could not be happier about the outcome. 

By Friday afternoon, when the winning ticket was drawn, $24,500 was the total to be split between Swift Current’s Royal Canadian Legion Branch 56, and the winner.  The lucky ticket, number 1,807, was held by John Swain, a Southwest Saskatchewan resident living near Blumenort, who was presented with his cheque yesterday.

Swain had learned about the ticket sales at Canadian Tire through Swift Current Online and decided it was an opportune moment to contribute to the Legion, considering he hadn't done so in a while. Naturally, he was ecstatic to hear he had won. 

“It feels really good actually,” Swain expressed. “That's a great prize to win. I am going to be giving half to my wife though, so she has to decide what she would like to do with it.” 

This year's 50/50 For Change campaign fell just $2,560 short of the all-time fundraising record. The funds raised will be used to renovate the front entryways of the Legion Hall, and a significant portion will also be used to support local cadet groups in Swift Current. A $500 portion of the grand total was won earlier in the campaign by the Early Bird Draw winner. 

“I did kind of have an odd feeling about the draw and I'm not sure,” explained Swain. “I don't want to get into it because everybody will think I'm a little bit off the deep end here, but I had a strong feeling that I was going to win for some reason. I'm not a winner. I don't win lottery tickets or lotteries, but for some reason, I just had a good feeling about this one.” 

Swain, a retired RCMP officer, initially missed the call when the draw was conducted. His first reaction was to share half of his winnings with his wife.

“I have a really good life and luckily for me, I'm not wanting a lot of things," said Swain. "I don't do things quickly and without thinking about them. I'll have to think about it for a while and I know there are things that I should be spending money on and maybe I haven't been in certain areas, but I'll probably do something that I've given some thought to.” 

Swain plans to commit more of his efforts to supporting the Local Legion Branch 56 in the future. 

“I hope that other people listen to this and do the same thing," said Swain. "I don't think they expect you to give them thousands of dollars, but just a nice donation from time to time, which would really be nice for the legion. I'm going to be doing that from now on.” 

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