Maple Ridge resident still pinching herself after winning Rotary Duck Race

A Maple Ridge resident is the winner of the Rotary Duck Race.

Lesley Shebib learned that she took home the top prize of $15,000 cash after her name was drawn on Sunday, Aug. 7.

Shebib was hanging out with her partner when she received a call, that Shebib thought at first could be a scam.

However, the call was from Ineke Boekhorst with the Rotary Club of Meadow Ridge to tell her that she had won.

“She was so earnest, and so sincere, and so lovely and excited for me that it didn’t take me very long to realize that it was for real,” said Shebib, adding that she is still pinching herself.

Shebib bought her ticket the day of the draw, after seeing an online post the previous day saying the Otter 4-H Llama Club needed the support. So, to be a good community member, she supported them by purchasing a five pack of tickets and a package for the 50/50 draw.

Shebib and her partner are planning to donate some of the money back to the local Rotary Clubs and then give a bit to her and her partner’s, combined, six grown children, and then put a bit away for a holiday next spring.

Other winners are:

Danielle Baudais of Maple Ridge won $4,000. She said she had no plans for the money as yet.

The winner of the 50/50, $3,637.50 was Tina Collinson, also of Maple Ridge, who bought her ticket when ticket sales first opened. She is planning to use the money to fix the perimetre drain around her house – work that has already been started because of a recent flooding.

“Literally that morning I was like I am going to manifest money tonight,” for the drain work, she said.

“I texted my daughter, I wrote it in my gratitude journal, and then I got a call from Ineke that evening,” she exclaimed, disbelievingly.

Josh Carriss of Pitt Meadows won a $1,000 shopping spree at Mark’s in Maple Ridge plus an additional $1,000 cash.

Howard Verrico of Maple Ridge took home a queen sized Beautyrest Mattress valued at $2,000 courtesy of Fuller Watson BrandSource Home Furnishings.

Karline Neumann of Maple Ridge won 10 rounds of golf plus the use of five golf carts at Meadow Gardens Golf Club.

And Monique Bakker of Maple Ridge won a Samsung 65 inch 4K Smart TV from Haney Appliance and Sound.

READ ALSO: Counting down to virtual duck race

ALSO: Rotary Duck Race looking for partner organizations in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows

Various local organizations sold tickets for the draw and were able to keep 80 per cent of their ticket sales.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, rubber ducks were unleashed on the South Alouette River at Maple Ridge Park.

Organizers are hopeful to have the ducks back in the water, again, next year.

Cash prizes are being awarded Tuesday, Aug. 9, at Meadow Gardens Golf Club.