Page 6 - January 2012 • Southern California Gaming Guide

January 2012 Tribes in the News
ISouthern California Tribes Provide Happy Holidays for Local Charities
n December, Southern California Tribes helped make the holidays merry and bright with donations of food, toys and clothing to local charities.
Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians and Harrah’s Rincon Donate $32,000 in Turkey Coupons
Seven local charitable organizations were able to provide turkey dinners to needy San Diego County residents thanks to the Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians and Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort. On December 13th,
1,600 coupons good for a free Butterball turkey ($20 value per coupon) were hand-delivered by executives of Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort to the agencies, just in time for holiday turkey dinners.
“ is donation is truly a blessing,” said Major David Ebel of the Salvation Army’s Escondido Corps. “ is has been another tough economic year, so the needs are up while donations are down. is gift from Harrah’s Rincon will help us provide a hot turkey dinner at our shelter and provide turkeys for our Christmas baskets.”
“We are very excited about this generous gift,” stated
Diane Woerner, Corporate and Foundation Relations Manager for Feeding America San Diego. “We lost one of our underwriters for our Christmas basket program this year so this donation couldn’t have come at a better time.”
“We were absolutely thrilled when Harrah’s Rincon called to let us know they could provide turkey coupons for us,” said Mary Ann Tanner of Homefront San Diego. “ ese coupons will be
used to provide turkeys for military families who are in need of help and wouldn’t otherwise have a Christmas dinner.”
Other organizations receiving turkey coupons
were Mama’s Kitchen in San Diego, the San Diego Rescue Mission, Interfaith Community Services in Escondido, and Father Joe’s Villages.
“ e holiday season is traditionally a time of giving, when those who have share with those in need,” stated Rincon Tribal Chairman Bo Mazzetti. “It wasn’t that long ago that members of our Tribe were receiving Christmas baskets — now we can share our good fortune with other members of our community.”
“Harrah’s Rincon, in common with all properties operated by Caesars Entertainment, truly believes that it’s important to share our nancial success with the communities where we live and work,” said Janet Beronio, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort and Chairwoman of the Caesars Foundation.“It is a privilege to be able to provide this holiday gift to those in need in San Diego County.”
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians Donates $25,000 to Toys for Tots
e Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians donated $25,000 to Toys for Tots, making sure that there would be Christmas gifts for children in need in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties. e donation was presented on December 10th.
“ is generous donation delivers a message of hope and contributes to our young people becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens,” said Anita Pomerantz, Managing Director and Chief Consultant for the Central Coast Marine Corp Toys for Tots.“In turn, we all receive the gift of knowing that there will be many more smiles and laughter on Christmas day.”
e Tribe has donated $15 million to hundreds of groups, and was happy to contribute to the holiday charity tradition. e Marine Corps has run Toys for
Tots since it was founded in 1947.
“We’re very happy to support an organization like
Toys for Tots, which makes such a positive di erence in the lives of so many children,” said Vincent Armenta, Tribal Chairman for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.
Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa Donates $17,000 in Clothing to Coachella Valley Charity
Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa donated $17,000 worth of clothing from its wardrobe department to Martha’s Village & Kitchen, which serves the homeless in the Coachella Valley.
e donated clothing included resort uniforms, suits, blouses, shirts, ties, and pants in colors and styles that were either not used any longer by Agua Caliente Casino, or were discontinued by its vendors, said casino spokeswoman, erese Everett-Kerley.
Lorena Landeros, manager of Agua Caliente’s Wardrobe Department, spearheaded the clothing donation. She volunteers at Martha’s Village and said she has seen rsthand the di erence clothing
donations make.
“By donating these garments, we give Martha’s customers a professional appearance when they go out to job interviews, or when they are hired for a job,” she said.
Morongo Band of Mission Indians Donates $100,000 in Cash and Services
e Morongo Band of Mission Indians sponsored a shopping spree with a donation of $100,000 in cash and services for more than 2,500 low-income children from the Inland Empire. e Christmas Cheer All Year shopping spree took place on December 20th at the Toys
’R Us in Ontario.
“ e Morongo Band of Mission Indians is delighted to
be partnering with Christmas Cheer All Year to make holiday dreams come true for thousands of disadvantaged Inland children,” Morongo Tribal Chairman Robert Martin said. “In this season of giving, we are especially humbled to be bringing a measure of holiday joy to hundreds of local children who the County is sheltering from abuse and neglect.”
Children from Redlands, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, Beaumont, Banning and across the Inland Empire region took part in the shopping spree. Each child was given a $35 gift card to purchase toys. Among the children were 450 foster children from the San Gorgonio Pass who are in protective custody through the Riverside
County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) Children’s Services Division. County funds were not available this year to provide the children with holiday gifts. Without Morongo’s help, many of children would have gone without a present.
“ is is the rst year that we were not going to be able to provide foster children in the County with a holiday gift,” Laurie Fineman, Deputy Director of
Children’s Services at Riverside County’s Department of Public Social Services, said. “We put out the call for help, and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians answered to make sure our kids’ holiday dreams came true in the San Gorgonio Pass.”
“ e families we serve are really struggling as our region continues to experience some of the highest poverty rates in the County,” said Josie Coates, Program Manager of the James A. Venable Community Center in Cabazon.
“Morongo has always been there to support our programs, and the kids are thrilled to be taking part in this year’s shopping spree.”
e Morongo Band of Mission Indians has a long tradition of giving, and contributes more than $1 million annually to support communities and non-pro t organizations across the Inland Empire and Southern California.
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GAMING GUIDE
JANUARY 2012