Delaware North’s Southland Casino Hotel in West Memphis, Ark., is donating nearly $20,000 to relief efforts for residents of Wynne, Ark., which on March 31 was hit by a tornado that left four people dead, dozens injured, and many homes and businesses destroyed.
In the days immediately after the tornado, Southland responded by donating and delivering more than $9,600 in supplies to the City of Wynne for distribution to residents, including bottled water, bottled soft drinks, chips and other snacks, batteries, trash bags, kitchen items and cleaning products.
In addition, Southland has pledged $10,000 to the Wynne School District Yellowjacket Foundation, which is helping support students and their families in the wake of the significant damage sustained by Wynne High School.
“Our team at Southland Casino Hotel was heartbroken when we learned of the devastation in Wynne – including that the high school was so badly damaged – and immediately wanted to help,” said Osi Imomoh, president and general manager of Southland Casino Hotel. “We focus on ways to assist those in need in West Memphis and the greater region, and now we are focused on aiding a community only 40 miles away that has suffered so much.”
The assistance from Southland Casino Hotel was acknowledged by State Senator Ronald Caldwell, whose district includes Wynne.
“Our high school, our sewer plant, most day-care centers, many churches, and hundreds of houses were totally destroyed,” Caldwell wrote in a letter to Imomoh. “Almost immediately, Southland Casino Hotel reached out to us, offering help in any way necessary. We did not have to ask for assistance.”
“Instead, Southland team members gathered and delivered an extremely large supply of items used daily. Words of gratitude seem so inadequate to describe the true feelings of thanksgiving that we have for people like you and your team members. From the bottom of our hearts we are forever grateful for what you have done and what you are doing for the people of this town,” Caldwell wrote.
PHOTO CAPTION: Leaders from Southland Casino Hotel donate and deliver a truckload of supplies to the City of Wynne for relief from the March 31 tornado. Shown in the truck in front of several pallets of supplies are (left to right): Jason Guidry, assistant general manager; Osi Imomoh, president and general manager; Neki Catron, then community relations manager; Arainna Young, human resources manager; and Ed West, commissary supervisor.