The Bradford Lions’ annual Mammoth Car Draw fundraiser is the latest victim of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2020 car draw has now officially been cancelled. It would have been the sixty-seventh Mammoth Car Draw held by the local club.
Car Draw Chair Jamie Jones explained that the decision had to be made immediately.
Although the car draw itself doesn’t take place until September, March is the month that the Bradford Lions apply for their OLG Licence. Once the licence is received, the Lions then print 1,700 tickets, and sell them in the community.
Not only is it difficult to contemplate asking residents facing business closures, lay-offs and financial hardship to spend $120 on a car draw ticket, there’s the health risk involved in selling the tickets – a risk the club can’t take, Jones said.
“It’s sad to see,” he acknowledged, noting that numerous other planned Lions events, including the multidistrict convention, have also been cancelled.
If there is a silver lining, it’s that the Lions are now making greater use of GoToWebinar software, as a means of connecting its clubs.
“We’re going to make it accessible,” said Jones, who is also District A-12 Governor. The April 4 Lions Learning Weekend in-person events have been cancelled, but there are plans to use the GoToWebinar platform to present the planned keynote speaker.
“We’re going to use this platform to hold a whole bunch of Lions learning,” Jones said.
There is even a “glimmer of hope,” regarding a fundraiser later this year, in September. There may not be a car draw but the Bradford Lions have booked the Bradford Community Centre for the usual date.
“If things clear up, as far as the social distancing, we have booked the hall space, and we may hold a social event,” Jones said. But as for the Mammoth Car Draw, “the logistics don’t make sense right now.”
In a press release issued on Friday, Jones wrote: "As community leaders in service, it is extremely difficult for our members who are typically helping those in need, to sit on the sidelines practicing Social Distancing. It is imperitaive (however) that we consider the safety and welfare of our community first!"
