Lourdes' Sheldon Greene takes $329K prize at Chase the Ace

A popular fundraiser in in western Newfoundland's Lourdes has finally come to an end, with one lucky person walking away $329,000 richer.

Sheldon Greene of Lourdes took home the top prize in Chase the Ace, an event that grew over the course of 10 months from a small community fundraiserfor a local church parish to something thatresembleda busy Las Vegas casino.

• Fundraiser gone wild: thousands flock to Lourdes for Chase the Ace lottery

On Sunday, Greene picked the ace of spades from the remaining eight cards in the deck and walked away with the jackpot.

Along with his wife Rita, he had been spending about $150 a week on the lottery, which ran for 44 consecutive weeks before finally ending with Sunday's big win.

"They said, 'You got it.'I put my arms up, and the rest is history," he told CBC's Corner Brook Morning Show.

"I'm still in shock."

The couple plans on enjoying a bit of the money right away by takinga vacation and buying gifts for their kids.They plan onsavingthe rest for a rainy day.

"Our daughter is finishing up her education degree so we're going to help her out with that," said Rita Greene.

"Also, our son is into electric guitars so we're going to buy him another one."

Popularity of fundraiser surpassed everyone's expectations

The other big winner of Chase the Ace is the Our Lady of Lourdes Parish on the Port au Port peninsula.

Over the course of 44 weeks, the parish raised about $500,000far beyond what anyone expected.

Chase the Ace works by having people buy 50-50 tickets. At the end of the night, there'sa draw.

The winner automatically gets 20 per cent of the pot. However, s/healso gets to cut a deck of cards for a chance to win everything accumulated since the fundraiser began.

With Sheldon Greene's big win on Sunday, organizers from the parish and the town of Lourdes can finally relax after the craziness of the event over the last few weeks.

"This was an amazing run, and an amazing fundraiser for the parish," said Lourdes Mayor Henry Gaudon.

"For us, there was finally light at the end of the tunnell."

Gaudonapplaudsthe work put in by the many volunteers who he says never expected the event to reach the point it did, with peopledriving forhourstocome and take part.

He said 44 weeks in,he's glad that someone finally took home the top prize.

"We're so thankful, but I think there was a lot of karma there, that this just had to go," he said.

"Everyone is welcoming a much needed break now."