And they’re off!!!
Local Rotarians are racing to help the community with their biggest annual fundraising event getting underway yesterday afternoon.
The first of a two-day event, people gathered at Le Manumea in Vailima for the Calcutta Sweepstakes – the lead-in to the main affair – the Melbourne Cup which will be held tomorrow.
Rotary President Tony Callaghan said the Melbourne Cup was the “largest fundraiser” for the Rotary Club of Apia.
“Today, a lot of the public will come and all the raffle tickets purchased will be put in a barrel and the Melbourne Cup horses in another barrel,” he said.
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“All horses are then up for auction. “After the last horse is auctioned, the prize pool is worked out, with a certain percentage for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and last.”
He said this Rotary event received a lot of support from local businesses and the club’s biggest hope is to use this money to give back to the Samoan community.
“The money will help with health, education, water tanks and other things for the community,” he said. Mr Callaghan said the second part of the fundraising event – the Melbourne Cup – will be held at the Robert Louis Stevenson’s Museum.
There, guests will be treated to food and beverages as well as a barbeque stall set up by the Rotaract Club of Apia. Live races will be streamed throughout the day in addition to a live Tote operated by A.N.Z. Samoa. There will also be raffles, auctions, and fashion show from Tanoa Samoa and live entertainment later in the day with Apia’s own Dream Girl Divas.
Last year’s event raised almost $25,000.
A Calcutta is a certain type of sweepstake where a raffle is conducted before a sporting event such as a horse race and then there is a draw held to see who ‘owns’ each horse.
Once this happens, the host then auctions off each runner in the field beginning with the horse with the longest odds down to the favourite.
The money raised from the raffle and auction is the prize money for the Calcutta, which is paid out after the main event – in this instance, the Melbourne Cup.
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