Page 32 - December 2007 • Southern California Gaming Guide

Page 32
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
December 2007
December 2007 Tribes in the News (Continued)
SAouthern California Wildfires Update
s the recent Southern California wild res were brought under control and residents returned to a ected neighborhoods in late October, Southern California tribes continued e orts to help one another and their communities. During the res, 130
homes were lost on Indian reservation land in one of the most destructive series of restorms in recent California history, scorching 517,450 acres, destroying 3,087 structures and killing seven people, according to the California O ce of Emergency Services.
A half-million people across southern California were evacuated—the largest number in state history. Hundreds of Native evacuees remained on the reservations of other tribes, in hotels and shelters.
Several Southern California casinos closed to the public to be able to help re ghters and reservation evacuees.
ey included Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort, Valley View Casino, Casino Pauma, Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino, Sycuan Casino, and Viejas Casino. Neighboring casinos including Pala Casino Resort Spa, Pechanga Resort & Casino, Golden Acorn Casino, Morongo Casino Resort Spa, and San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino aided San Diego area tribes.
TRincon Casino & Resort Employees Affected by Wildfires
From the first days of the fire, tribes across Southern California stretching from the Morongo reservation 40 miles east of Los Angeles to the southeastern Viejas reservation in San Diego’s East County joined to help one another and the fire-fighting effort. Fires burned more than
superintendent for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Southern California. The La Jolla and Rincon reservations suffered the most damage, including the loss of Rincon’s chapel, built in the late 1800s. Other tribes affected include the Barona, Inaja- Cosmit, Mesa Grande, Pala, Pauma-Yuima, San Pasqual, Santa Ysabel and Viejas.
30,000 acres of reservation land, said Jim Fletcher,
The Harrah’s Foundation Donates $300,000 to Assist Harrah’s
he Harrah’s Foundation, a private nonpro t foundation a liated with Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. joined o ering food, shelter and support to evacuees until the forces with the San Diego Regional Disaster Fund which is part of the San Diego Foundation to create American Red Cross arrived and relocated evacuation the STAR (Save, Transform, Assist and Restore) Fund to assist employees of Harrah’s Rincon and those services to a nearby high school.
within the community who were a ected in the recent STAR Fund with an initial gift of $300,000.
Money raised through the STAR Fund will rst provide nancial assistance to Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort San Diego North employees who su ered losses to their primary residence. Funds will also be directed to local charitable organizations, tribal organizations, schools and re and police organizations in San Diego that provided services to those a ected by the res. Donations may be tax deductible.
San Diego Fires. e Harrah’s Foundation has seeded the
Harrah’s Rincon was severely impacted by the res. More than 1,600 employees were a ected, with 35 employees losing their homes. e hotel casino was closed for six days, becoming an o cial evacuation center when the Poomacha re initially broke out on October 23rd. During that time, Harrah’s Rincon took in several hundred evacuees from the Rincon and LaJolla Reservations and the Palomar Mountain area,
Although the property was surrounded by re, Harrah’s Rincon provided more than 1,000 hotel room nights to re ghters, emergency workers and evacuees through November 4th. e team also gave more than 6,000 meals to employees, evacuees and emergency workers from the Fire Departments, U. S. Marshals O ce, the California Highway Patrol, the California Border Patrol, the California Department of Forestry and the National Guard. e property reopened for business on Monday, October 29th.
Morongo Tribe Provides Over 35,000 Thanksgiving Dinners to Local Charities
In their annual turkey donation program, the Morongo Band of Mission Indians provided 8,000 turkey packages, representing over 35,000 anksgiving dinners to over 65 Riverside County, San Bernardino County and Los Angeles County nonpro t organizations. e tribe also delivered dinners to other reservations in need including Anza, Mecca and Santa Rosa. e 65 groups that bene ted from the tribe’s generosity include the Inland AIDS Project, ABC Recovery Center, the Los Angeles and Riverside Missions, various VFW chapters, and other regional Indian reservations. e annual turkey donation program has been a cherished part of the Morongo Tribe’s holiday season for nearly three decades. e
Tribe’s cumulative yearly outreach e orts represent over 1 million dollars annually to over 200 nonpro t and community organizations.
Marines Enjoy Thanksgiving “FOperation Turkey” at Harrah’s Rincon
or the third consecutive year, Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort San Diego North hosted its annual “Operation Turkey” on anksgiving Day. Just a month after the Pavilion at Harrah’s served as an evacuation center for victims of the Poomacha Fire, it was transformed into a festive dining hall where 150 Marines from Camp Pendleton enjoyed a complete anksgiving Dinner with all the
trimmings—served by members of the H.E.R.O. (Harrah’s Entertainment Reaching Out) volunteer team. ey also enjoyed a special Harrah’s holiday performance featuring several gorgeous dancers. During
dinner, the annual football games were shown on several plasma screens and games such as pool, ping- pong and air hockey were available. e Marines made the return trip to Camp Pendleton, carrying box lunches including a delectable turkey sandwich.
Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians Band Donates $80,000 to Local Schools
ood Neighbors was the theme of luncheon hosted by the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians, on October 9th at Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort.
Five Good Neighbor Awards were presented to tribal and community members and $80,000 was donated to local schools and organizations.
Recipients of the Rincon Band’s $80,000 contribution included Valley Center High School—$40,000; Blue Star Mothers, the North County chapter—$10,000; the History Museum of Valley Center—$10,000; the Southern California American Indian Center—$10,000; and $10,000 was donated to Teen Challenge of San Diego County.
Good Neighbor honorees were Tom Bumgardner, past president of the Valley Center Chamber of Commerce; the Rincon Reservation Fire Department; Congressman Darrell Issa; Rincon Tribal Member John Parada; and Judge Anthony Brandenburg of the Southern California Intertribal Court.
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Organizations
Southern California Tribes in the News (Continued)