WINNIPEG -- On Saturday in Whitemouth, Manitoba, the Chase The Ace lottery was down to its final card, drawing in hundreds of people from all over the province.

One of those people was Tyler Perillo from Winnipeg.

When Perillo heard there was only one card left in Chase the Ace, he and ten other friends put their money together and camped outside of the Whitemouth Community Centre.

"My plan is to empty all the money that we brought and pooled together, get our tickets, win our $236,000 and be on our merry way," said Perillo while waiting in his ice fishing tent.

Bill Dowbyhuz is the president of the Whitemouth Recreation Association. He said they organized this Chase the Ace lottery 54 weeks ago to raise money for the recreation association.

"It's just become an overwhelming event," said Dowbyhuz

"We're down to the last card; we never would have imagined that it would have (gotten) to this point."

Dowbyhuz said the Recreation Association will get 25 per cent of all the money raised.

In the past, funds raised have gone towards maintaining and upgrading facilities in the community like the curling rink and the outdoor skating rink. Dowbyhuz said those projects couldn't have been done without the money raised through chase the ace.

To play chase the ace, you buy a ticket that is put into a draw. If you win the draw, you get the chance to select a card from a deck in hopes of drawing the ace of spades.

Doug Jacques and Tim Juer were waiting at the back of the line for their chance to buy a ticket. They heard there was a lot of car traffic, so they drove from Lac Du Bonnet to Whitemouth on their snowmobiles, hoping to win big.

"We're down here for Chase the Ace," said Jacques. "Hopefully, we're gonna win a few dollars and take the kids to Disney Land."

THE WINNER

At 5:30 p.m., a name was finally drawn, sucking the air out of the room except for one lucky winner.

Canduce Tokash from Winnipeg Beach had her ticket drawn and won the $236,000 grand prize.

"It's very exciting, I'm ecstatic," said Tokash, still in disbelief. "I actually bought tickets for my children's Dad and myself. I spent $50.00, and I won it on my ticket."

The Recreation Association said they run on a shoestring budget, but they've been able to do a lot of upgrades in the community because of their Chase the Ace fundraisers.