Charities take stand for bingo

• By DEBRA LEMOINE
• Advocate Florida parishes bureau
• Published: Jun 19, 2008 - Page: 1B - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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HAMMOND — Members of some Hammond charities are talking about how revenue from video bingo games  benefits their organizations even as a proposed ballot measure banning the games in the city is almost certain to go before voters in November.

Representatives of four Hammond-based charities agree that video bingo has developed into a financial boon for their
organizations, earning on average $10,000 a month for them through the games after their expenses. The games also are an even bigger boon to owners of the bingo parlors and machines.

Video bingo has been a controversial issue in Hammond since the City Council adopted enacting ordinances in 2005.

The opening of a third parlor this spring triggered a grassroots campaign by anti-gambling residents organized under the name of Citizens for Better Community. The group planned and conducted a petition drive to place a proposition an a future ballot that would ban video bingo play in Hammond.

The group collected 1,885 signatures, 1,800 of which were determined to be valid by the Tangipahoa Parish Registrar of Voters Office, Registrar John Russell said.

The 1,800 signatures met the 15 percent threshold required to force the City Council to place the issue before Hammond voters, according to the city’s Home Rule Charter.

“It is simply a money-making, profit-generating enterprise on behalf of the charities,” said Douglas Brown, a Hammond lawyer and member of Citizens for a Better Community. “At some point, somebody’s got to realize it ain’t about the money. It’s about the mission.”

Charities speak out
In the meantime, representatives of some charities are speaking out to counter the anti-gambling forces by telling of the benefits the games have meant for their organizations.

“Everybody thought that the less said the better off we’d be,” said David Schwab, president of the Beta Pi of Theta Xi Fraternity alumni board. “Now, it’s time to start letting people know what it’s all about.”

Fundraising efforts before video bingo — from having booths at the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival to local raffles — could bring in $10,000 for some service organizations, but the number of man-hours was much greater than it takes to host a video bingo session, said representatives from Theta Xi and the Hammond Knights Foundation.

“It’s not even close,” said Eddie Newsom, treasurer for the Hammond Knights, a service organization.

The Richard Murphy Hospice Foundation opened and is funding its new hospice house with proceeds from video bingo revenues, said Vito Mede, a member of the foundation. Hospice providers care for patients who typically have six months or fewer to live.

Theta Xi, a Southeastern Louisiana University fraternity, has used its proceeds to pay for scholarships for its members and sets aside 35 percent of its video bingo dollars to donate to other charities, Schwab said.