Not All The Winners At Westchester's Empire City Casino Are Players

YONKERS, NY — Usually when someone is getting their picture taken with a giant check at Empire City Casino, it means they had a lucky day. When dozens of civic leaders recently posed with eight giant checks worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, it simply meant they were doing good works in the local community.

Empire City Casino by MGM Resorts recently donated $102,000 to eight local nonprofit organizations through multiple grant funding opportunities. Grants were distributed to organizations providing services in the core MGM Resorts philanthropy areas. These include food insecurity programs that provide access to nutritious meals, educational programs that support academic success, workforce development initiatives providing educational and training programs to prepare individuals for sustainable career opportunities and a new homelessness initiative, to support organizations making an impact in combating homelessness in surrounding communities.

"Our company, employees and guests alike strongly believe in giving back to our communities," Empire City Ed Domingo explained. “All eight grant recipients provide crucial resources and programming to Bronx and Westchester residents and we’re incredibly proud to support their efforts."

This year’s grant recipients include:

• Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York
  • $10,000 to fund a mobile food pantry targeting area food deserts.
  • $10,000 to support their workforce development programs in Yonkers.
• Yonkers Family YMCA will use their $10,000 grant to expand hot meals programs.
• Feeding Westchester received $10,000 to expand their food recovery initiatives.
• United Way of Westchester & Putnam (UWWP)
  • Education United Program and Summer Learning Program received a $10,000 grant to provide educational materials such as backpacks, school supplies and nutrition education to low-income and academically at-risk youth and families in Yonkers and Mount Vernon.
  • $12,000 to launch a new program that focuses on youth violence prevention and mental health awareness.
• Greyston Foundation received $10,000 to support their Workforce Education and Training Program, which provides occupational courses designed to place individuals in permanent jobs within high-demand sectors.
• VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired received a $10,000 workforce development grant.
• BronxWorks received a $10,000 grant to support workforce development programs focused on currently homeless individuals.
• The Guidance Center of Westchester received a $10,000 grant which will support furnishing apartments for individuals receiving services in their programs.

"VISIONS is thrilled to be selected as a grant recipient," VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired CEO Nancy Miller said. "The casino’s support enables blind youth to achieve their work readiness and employment goals. They’re helping increase the number of working blind people above the current 40 percent employment rate for blind job seekers, compared to nearly double the number who are sighted and working. Thank you Empire City Casino for making such a major difference in the lives of blind New Yorkers."

Empire City supports non-profit organizations that provide direct services towards residents in the local communities in which it operates, as well as where its employees reside. More information can be found here.