A Nova Scotia community has put a wildly popular fundraiser on hold as they determine how best to cope with the thousands of people flocking to the small town to "Chase the Ace."

What started as a modest, lottery-style fundraiser at the Royal Canadian Legion in Inverness, N.S., has exploded in popularity.

Demand for tickets has been so high organizers have trucked in a temporary mobile phone tower to handle the jump in cellphone activity.

Organizers have also had to use the town hockey rink, race track, school gymnasium and other community halls to accommodate the crowds. The streets of the small town have also been jammed with vehicles, forcing organizers to call in police to handle the surge in traffic.

"We're here to make sure traffic control is done properly," RCMP Sgt. Dave Thibeau said.

Now organizers have delayed the next draw by a week, as they scramble to find enough security to keep the throngs of people in order.

"It's the volume of people that's really causing all of this," Chase the Ace organizer Cameron MacQuarrie told CTV Atlantic.

The last draw drew more than 8,000 people to the community of 1,500, and the upcoming draw is expected to attract 15,000 people hoping to win the growing jackpot.

There are only six cards left in the deck of playing cards, and according to organizers, the jackpot is expected to balloon to more than $1 million. Originally, MacQuarrie told The Canadian Press, organizers only expected to raise about $30,000.

Two weeks ago, Dennis Jessome's ticket was drawn.

"The third ticket was 73 – that was the winning ticket," he said.

Jessome won more than $136,000, approximately 20 per cent of the money that was raised. He was also invited to draw a single card from the deck of playing cards. He did not draw the ace of spades, which would have won him the jackpot.

Beyond security, the town is struggling to figure out where to put all the people and vehicles.

During the contest's last draw, RCMP Sgt. Shelby Miller said officials counted 4,000 vehicles coming into the town, which is about a four-hour drive from Halifax.

"One very realistic possibility is that we find a larger parking space outside of the village," MacQuarrie said. "And then (we) have shuttles or transit-type busses, pick those patrons up, take them in."

With files from CTV Atlantic bureau chief Todd Battis and The Canadian Press