The countdown is for a chance to win a quarter million dollars on Boxing Day.
Cash to Fight Cancer lottery ticket buyers in Prince George can get in on the possible windfall while supporting the purchase of state-of-the art medical equipment for University Hospital of Northern B.C. costing about $400,000.
Tickets for the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation's lottery can be purchased until noon on Dec. 24, with all proceeds going towards an ultrasonic gastrovideoscope, which allows doctors to perform endoscopic ultrasounds at UHNBC.
"This highly sophisticated piece of equipment will cost close to $400,000 and the Spirit of the North has raised about $275,000 through other events and donations to date," said Don Gowan, CEO of SNHCF.
This ultrasonic gastrovideoscope imaging system has the capability to capture images of the entire digestive tract: esophagus, stomach, pancreas, bile duct and rectum. It can also assist in locating cancerous tumors from both within and surrounding the digestive tract, as well as minute stones in the gall bladder and bile ducts.
Diagnosis of pancreatitis is also greatly assisted by these images. Capturing biopsy samples in areas not possible to reach through the skin can b e done with this equipment. The images allow internal cysts to be drained without major surgery.
Tickets sold in communities outside of Prince George will result in 100 per cent of those proceeds being granted to the closest Community Cancer Clinic.
Those clinics are based in Dawson Creek, Fort St. John, Haida Gwaii, Kitimat, Prince Rupert, Quesnel, Smithers, Terrace and Vanderhoof.
This is the first year that such a split has been determined and Gowan is thrilled with this arrangement.
"We are committed to making sure that funds raised locally, stay in the community in which the funds were raised and this is just one of many positive changes we are making at the Spirit of the North" said Gowan.
Funds totalling $80,000 were recently granted to healthcare facilities in the Northwest Region and $25,000 was granted to Vanderhoof this past summer.
Along with the grand prize of $250,000, draws will be made for secondary prizes of $10,000, two $5,000 prizes and ten prizes of $1,000 each. Tickets are $100 each, and only 8,000 tickets can be sold.
Tickets can be purchased at SNHC office in the UHNBC lobby, any CIBC in northern BC, online at www.cashtofightcancer.ca or by calling 1-877-792-7773.
For more information, contact the SNHCF at 250-565-2515 or at 1-877-565-2515.
SNHCF has raised more than $25 million since its inception in 1991. Last year the foundation granted more than $1.3 million to Northern Health, and in this fiscal year NH has already received about $1.2 million.
