Wearing Gila River Cares T-shirts, team members from Gila River Hotels & Casinos – Wild Horse Pass, Lone Butte, and Vee Quiva visited three nonprofit organizations this week to present surprise donation checks during what’s become one of the gaming enterprise’s most popular philanthropic events: “Gila River Cares Week of Giving.”
More than $84,000 of self-excluded jackpot funds were distributed to the nonprofits to benefit educational programs and children’s welfare. Self-excluded jackpot funds are acquired if a player is ineligible to receive their winnings on games. Earlier this year, all Arizona-based 501c3 status nonprofit organizations recognized by the IRS were eligible to apply to receive these funds and a committee from Gila River Hotels & Casinos selected the recipients.
“Gila River has always had a strong culture of caring and our team members are passionate about creating meaningful change through philanthropic efforts and volunteerism,” said Kenneth Manuel, CEO of Gila River Hotels & Casinos. “We’ve seen how devastating this pandemic has been to our local nonprofits and we hope our Gila River Cares contributions help ease some of the financial burdens.”
This year’s recipients and distribution amounts included $28,218.33 to Phoneix-based one•n•ten, the largest organization in Arizona that provides comprehensive services to LGBTQ+ and allied youth ages 11-24; $28,303.07 to ICAN: Positive Programs for Youth, a free out-of-school program that serves youth at three sites in Chandler; and $28,218.33 to The Tommy Two Shoes Literacy Project for Children, which encourages literacy among the youth of Arizona via a free book-giveaway program.
The 2021 “Gila River Cares Week of Giving” represents the fourth consecutive year of surprising nonprofits with contribution amounts. The event began in 2018 as a cocktail chic “Gila River Night of Giving” and evolved to a “Week of Giving” last year, after the onset of the pandemic. In the past four years, $322,739 of self-excluded jackpot funds have been distributed to 16 local nonprofits.
