Another very successful High River and District Health Care Foundation gala on the weekend.

The final totals aren't in yet but the raffle of the 1956 Bel Air Sports Coupe was a phenomenal success.

Former Mayor Emile Blokland says he was happy to donate the car to the Cancer Centre to give away and thrilled that the raffle raised about $97,000.

"There's a little pang for sure, you know it's a beautiful car, and I've enjoyed having it but I'm also pleased with how well the Hospital Foundation took the gift and ran with it and were able to transform it into a huge amount of money for the Cancer Clinic," Blokland says.

After expenses are paid the Foundation's Executive Director Michael Brown expects they'll clear about $82,000.

"One of the reasons we did it and were so excited about the opportunity to it, part of it was raising the money absoluetly, the Cancer Centre, that's been our absolute focus for the last few years," Brown says. "But also it gave us as a Foundation a chance to get out into the community to tell people about ourselves, to tell people about the Cancer Centre, I mean there are High Riverittes who don't even know where the Hospital is, and to be able to get out there and talk to these people is a fabulous opportunity."

Brown says they were selling tickets in front of the Sobey's in Okotoks for two hours and there were people who didn't know they could get their chemo treatment and other services in High River without having to drive all the way to the Tom Baker Centre in north Calgary.

A former High Riveritte, now living in Calgary, Garnett Jeffs was the lucky winner of the car raffle.