Casino workers urged to donate to April Foods Day drive

Heather Rawlyk

Friday, March 26, 2004 | 4:15 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION

March 27 - 28, 2004

Las Vegas hotel and casino employees are setting aside their tricks and opening their hearts on April 1 for the fifth April Foods Day food drive.

The drive will be conducted at several Las Vegas hotels and casinos and benefit the homeless and working poor of the Las Vegas community through Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada.

For one week employees will be encouraged to drop off nonperishables at designated boxes throughout their hotel or casino, according to Sharon Mann, community relations manager of Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada.

The designated boxes are commonly found wherever employees clock in, she said.

Local hotels and casinos taking part in this year's April Foods Day drive include Bally's, Caesars Palace, Eldorado Casino, Flamingo, Harrah's, Jokers Wild Casino, Las Vegas Hilton, New York-New York and Paris Las Vegas.

Last year 15,000 pounds of food were collected through the drive, according to Mann. "That's enough to last several months," she said.

The annual food drive is the perfect opportunity to start stocking the shelves for spring, Mann said.

"What happens is we collect a lot of food over the Christmas holidays and as the months go on after that, we begin to run out," she said. "We needed something to replenish our pantry again for the spring months, so we thought of April Foods Day."

Catholic Charities then asked local hotels and casinos to get involved, she said.

"When you have a hotel with thousands of employees, it's easy to start collecting," she said. "A lot of employees want to help and aren't sure what they can do. This is an easy way to help and it helps a lot of people."

The food collection is also helping former hotel employees, Mann said.

"We've seen a lot of people who were laid off from Castaways and we've been helping them out with food," she said. "So employees are also helping their fellow man."

The number of families coming to Catholic Charities has risen since the close of Castaways and Binion's Horseshoe, which is set to reopen next week, Mann said.

Catholic Charities currently has 150 to 200 families coming in per day, she said. The nonprofit organization usually sees about 100 families per day.

"We've been really busy lately," she said. "It's an especially great time to get collecting."

Although only hotel and casino employees can participate in the April Foods Day drive, Catholic Charities always accepts donations of foods and nonperishables, Mann said.

"We always need canned foods and nonperishables like cereals, rice, beans and pastas," she said.

For more information or to make a donation, contact Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada at 385-2662.