Thousands of dollars available
TOPPENISH — Legends Casino & Hotel in Toppenish once again has thousands of dollars to award to non-profit charitable organizations, and grant applications will be accepted until March 31.
“Through the expansion and renovation of the Legends Casino Hotel campus, our community continues to be supportive, and we’re excited to invite area charitable organizations to apply for the tenth annual Yakama Cares grant distribution,” Publicist Kim Harvey said.
The Charitable Contributions fund called Yakama Cares distributes in early May. In 2016, the Charitable Contributions Fund distributed more than $430,000 to 200 area nonprofits.
Grant recipients included schools, senior services, veteran services, food banks, shelters, and many more in Benton, Franklin, Kittitas, Grant, Klickitat and Yakima counties. The Mattawa Area Food Bank and the Mattawa-Desert Aire Lions Club have been repeat winners of grants.
The selection committee of five community members and Yakama Nation Legends Casino employees receives an average of 500 to 800 applications annually to evaluate. The applications undergo three to four rounds of cuts before the final selection.
Historically, applications addressing a youth/educational need, medical benefit to the community or assistance to senior citizens are given preference.
“We look for applications that not only fill a need but involve minimal overhead, and we’re also reviewing the overall community needs in our effort to find programs where we can make a significant impact,” Harvey said on behalf of the selection committee.
The application can be accessed under the Community heading at www.legendscasino.com.
Legends Casino Hotel is a place to play and soon will be a place to stay. The Casino includes over 1,400 slot machines, 20 table games including craps and roulette, a poker room, Keno, a buffet restaurant, and gift shop.
It is located just minutes off 1-82 and exit 50, one mile west of Toppenish. For more information: 1-877-7-COME-11 or www.legendscasino.com.
Legends Casino is owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. It shares its profits with the surrounding community with these grants.