This holiday season, associates and locations from throughout Delaware North took time to give back to the communities they serve.
Miami Valley Gaming collects cash and toys for charities
Miami Valley Gaming, owned and operated by Delaware North in partnership with Churchill Downs Inc. in Lebanon, Ohio, held two fundraisers in December to raise money and collect toys for charities.
The gaming venue’s pull-tab promotion on Dec. 2 raised $12,500 for Giving Hope To Kids at Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center. And the fourth annual Give A Kid A Christmas toy drive from Dec. 1-14 collected more than 1,700 toys.
The cash donation will directly benefit Cincinnati Children’s Liberty Campus, which is just 8 miles down I-75 from Miami Valley Gaming. United Way distributed the toys to several other regional charitable groups, which then gave the toys to families in need.
“We asked our patrons to help local charities and they came through in a big way,” said Domenic Mancini, president and general manager at Miami Valley Gaming. “They responded by donating over 1,700 toys in just two weeks and raised over $12,000 in cash in a single day. We know these donations will go a long way to help people in our area this holiday season.”
Airports offer free meals for veterans during holiday season
Several of Delaware North’s airport locations around the United States continued a tradition of honoring veterans during the holiday season by offering free and discounted meals.
Delaware North culinary teams at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Denver International Airport and Richmond International Airport provided holiday meals at their respective United Service Organization (USO) posts on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.
Delaware North teams at both Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport offered a 10 percent discount at Delaware North-operated restaurants throughout the week, while Boise Airport and Detroit Metropolitan Airport offered free entrees at select locations.
Grand Canyon associate helps local families have a happy holiday
Several families in the Grand Canyon community were treated to an extra special holiday season, thanks in no small part to Rory Relihan, Delaware North’s director of facilities at the national park, who spearheaded the team’s Grand Canyon Community Christmas Angels program.
Relihan coordinated the Christmas Angels Tree at Canyon Village Market, one of several retail outposts that Delaware North operates in and around the Grand Canyon’s South Rim. The tree was adorned with ornaments that community members could take to sponsor a local child or family for the holidays. Names were provided by the Grand Canyon School and Kaibab Learning Center, with the goal that no child go without a Christmas gift and no family go without a special holiday meal.
Relihan and other members of Delaware North’s onsite management team solicited donations of cash, gifts, and non-perishable food from vendors, contractors, local associations and community members. Delaware North associates also contributed canned food as part of their annual Christmas party.
Once all of the gifts were collected, Relihan hosted a gift wrapping party at the Community Recreation Center, which was attended by National Park Service (NPS) rangers, Delaware North associates and other Grand Canyon community members. The Grand Canyon School coordinated a drop-off and pick-up event so that families could collect their gifts and food.