Art Awards

I am sitting here contemplating an invitation I have received to participate in an art show in Ontario. On the headline of the invitation it states in bold " FIRST PLACE PRIZE IS $1000.00". Lets think about this for a moment. 20 or more artists end up having a place in the show. Then a Jury goes through the paintings and decides which they think should get the prize. They also decide which they feel should get Honorable Mention, etc, etc. So they will select those and the remaining paintings will be perceived as somewhat lower on the scale of importance and merit than those mentiond and awarded.
I have been in many such shows and it never ceases to nauseate me when this situation occurs. To make matters worse, they have all of these wonderful paintings on their wall for a month or so and during that time the only visitors are the friends and families of the artists who are participating in the exhibition. Further, if a sale were to happen the gallery holds the painting till the end of the show and will not release them till then. This will discourage the would be patron from following through with the purchase. 
Getting back to the prize issue. I am seriously contemplating letting a painting of mine to this show I am invited to participate in but I am also contemplating asking them to (should I happen to be the unlikely recipient of the award) donate the award to a charity of their choice. I just feel in my heart that tbeing awarded for a painting as a "winner" amungst other often better artists than I, is a really wrong thing to do. Perhaps going forward I will not accept such prizes ever again.
My Little protest.

Robert