115 Local charities and service groups are splitting more than $80,000.

St. Michael’s Church and Knights of Columbus were among the 70 Chatham-Kent non-profit groups that received a donation – LtoR Gerald Demers, Francis Allaert, Don Laprise, and Lucille Laprise, along with mascot Tobe Cobe Jr. and IPM 2018 Co-chair Leon Leclair.

The money is the first round of funding generated by last fall’s International Plowing Match and Rural Expo.

Event Co Chair Leon Leclair says figuring out who was going to get the money was tricky.

“We spoke a length about this, how best to get the money, who best to represent, so we decided in the end that every chair of every committee (involved in the IPM) had their voice,” Leclair explains.

Among the groups recognized last night were the United Way, Knights of Columbus, and Chatham-Kent 4-H Association.

The 2018 International Plowing Match and Rural Expo cost Chatham-Kent taxpayers nothing for municipal services such as police, fire, EMS and water, which were paid for by the local Match.

As well, a municipal loan given to help get the event off the ground was repaid before the IPM even began.