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12/15/2021 04:37 AMIt’s no secret that it’s been a hard year for restaurants. To help local eateries, the Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce is hosting a restaurant raffle with gift cards to all the restaurants in town.
Interested parties can purchase a raffle ticket for $20 a ticket but must act fast as there are only 2,000 total tickets. The drawing will be Friday, Dec. 17 at noon. Tickets can be bought at www.greatosraffle.com or at the chamber office.
There are 10 total prizes people can win, some of which are worth thousands of dollars.
The first prize is 41 $100 restaurant gift cards, which is one gift card to every Old Saybrook and Old Saybrook Chamber member restaurant. Second place is 41 $50 restaurant gift cards, to those same restaurants. Prizes 3 through 10 are $10 gift cards to eateries including ice cream parlors, breweries, and wine bars.
Old Saybrook Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Judy Sullivan said that this the second year the chamber is running this promotion after it was so successful last year.
“We sold out last year and we hope to again this year,” said Sullivan.
Sullivan noted that 2020 was a tough year for the restaurant industry in particular as people were uncomfortable with being around others in close proximity due to COVID-19. Many restaurants were forced to alter how they did business and many were also forced to close permanently. As a way to support the businesses in trying times, the chamber came up with the raffle idea.
“It was an away to support the town’s restaurants during the depths of COVID,” Sullivan said. “Around this time last year is when cases really started to get bad again, so we wanted to help out,” she added.
While 2021 has been better, Sullivan said that there has still been some hardship for the industry.
“Oh, for sure, especially as things take a turn and more variants pop up, we’ve had some places that have had to close for a few days,” Sullivan said.
Sullivan said that the money raised by the raffle goes back into the community. One way is that additional gift cards are purchased and given to the town’s Youth & Family Services so that department has a way of providing meals to families who need it. Anther portion of the proceeds goes to the operation of the chamber.