The Seminole Tribe of Florida received the 2014 Corporate Social Responsibility Award at the recent National Conference on Problem Gambling held in Orlando. The conference is the longest established national conference on problem gambling in the world.
The Seminole Tribe’s Gaming Commission Chairman Allen D. Huff accepted the award from Keith Whyte, executive director, National Council on Problem Gambling, for the tribe’s outstanding commitment to social responsibility in regard to problem gambling in the past year. In addition, the award recipient must aided the problem-gambling community by funding treatment and assuring therapeutic support to those needing help.
The tribe was nominated for the Corporate Social Responsibility Award by the FCCG. For more than a decade, the tribe has been a strong supporter of the FCCG and its largest voluntary contributor. In 2010, as part of the compact agreement with the state, the tribe agreed to provide $1.75 million in funding for compulsive gambling treatment and services in Florida, which allowed the FCCG to develop and implement a statewide program providing free treatment for problem gamblers.
Seminole Casinos spend millions of dollars annually to promote the FCCG’s 888-ADMIT-IT HelpLine, which appears in all ads and marketing materials produced by Seminole Casinos. Florida residents who call the HelpLine can obtain free treatment if they meet eligibility requirements, including no insurance and/or an ability to pay.
The Orlando meeting was the first time in the 28 year history of the NCPG that the conference was held the southeast, July 11-12. Previously the conference met in Milwaukee, Boston and Seattle.
“We are especially grateful for the very generous support of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which provided the largest single sponsorship in the history of the conference,” said Pat Fowler, executive director of the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling. More than $300,000 in direct and in-kind support was contributed for the conference.
Other major sponsors included Four Winds Casino Resort from Michigan, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians from California, Wind Creek Hospitality from Alabama, along with Las Vegas Sands Corporation and GTECH.
The conference drew approximately 450 professionals and individuals from a variety of areas of the gaming and problem gambling fields, including the treatment, research, prevention, responsible gaming and recovery communities.
