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Sarnia

New fundraiser will crown Sarnia's favourite restaurant

The organizers of Race to Erase have launched a virtual fundraiser in hopes of offsetting some dollars lost with the cancellation of the annual event.

The first annual "Give Up A Meal" event allows residents to sign up online and raise money for one of nine charities while promoting local restaurants.

You can choose to support the Brain Injury Association of Sarnia Lambton, Community Concerns for the Medically Fragile, Habitat For Humanity, Heaven's Wildlife, Huron House Boys Home, Lambton County Developmental Services, Pathways Health Centre for Children, Sarnia-Lambton Rebound, or the Women's Interval Home of Sarnia-Lambton.

Executive Director of "Hashtag Charitable" Rich Bouchard said there's also a March Madness-style bracket to crown Sarnia's favourite restaurant.

"The first round is open until November 15, and then we get into the sweet sixteen, elite eight and final four. The championship round wraps up on December 11. There's obviously no cost to doing any of that stuff, but of course, people can also take on some fundraising."

Bouchard said registration is free, but teams are asked to raise a minimum of $500.

He said by turning a portion of the funds raised into gift card prizes, local restaurants directly benefit from taking part in the fundraiser and participants have a chance to win in exchange for their fundraising efforts.

Bouchard said they drew inspiration from the Facebook page "Supporting Local Businesses Through COVID-19".

"We saw how much people stepped up to support these local restaurants early on in the pandemic when they were only able to do takeout," he said. "It was really fun to just see people take photos of their food or share a story about a kind person at a restaurant and that kind of thing."

Race to Erase has raised over $650,000 since 2006, including around $40,000 in 2019.

You can go to www.giveupameal.com for more information.

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