Donations hurried to NYC sought for use at home

Monday, Oct. 22, 2001 | 8:32 a.m.

Las Vegans are learning a hard and potentially expensive lesson about designating where gifts given to local charitable groups should go.

In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when 15,000 local hotel workers were laid off as visitor volumes sank, a number of donors are wishing they had designated at least some of their gifts to remain in the Las Vegas Valley to help Southern Nevadans affected by the tragedy.

Resort company MGM MIRAGE, just days after terrorists flew hijacked jets into New York City's World Trade Center and the Pentagon, gave $1 million to the local Red Cross specifically to assist East Coast victims.

Last week the resort asked the local Red Cross if the national office would consider diverting some of the gift back to Las Vegas to help valley residents in need.

"We had already made that request to the national office before the MGM asked us about it," Red Cross spokeswoman Trish Williamson said. "We are constantly in touch with the national office, and they are well aware of our situation in Las Vegas."

Williamson declined to say how much money the local office has asked the national office to return to Las Vegas. But she defended MGM MIRAGE'S initial gift.

"When they gave that money, how could they or anyone else have known of the situation we'd have now?" Williamson said.

At the time of the gift, the resort company, which operates the MGM, Treasure Island, the Mirage and other Las Vegas resorts, had a goal shared by millions in America and worldwide -- helping victims of the tragedy.

"What better organization to funnel money through than the Red Cross?" MGM MIRAGE Chairman Terrence Lanni said when he gave the local Red Cross the single largest gift ever funneled through the agency. "The $1 million (will) help these poor people at this difficult time.'

History has shown that when Las Vegans give generously to help victims of disasters elsewhere, the coffers of local charities often suffer.

It happened in 1989, after Hurricane Hugo devastated portions of the East Coast and a major earthquake crippled San Francisco. It happened again following the 1994 Southern California earthquake, according to news accounts of the time.