Charities suffer from gaming cuts

Whenever there are discussions around expanding gaming in this province, arguments often put forward are that monies brought it will go to assist those with gambling addiction and that a significant portion of the funds will go to support charitable work in communities around BC.

With the announcement this week that the province is limiting gaming fund disbursements and that they will not support environmental groups, charitable organizations are paying a huge price for the government’s short memory.

Contrary to what is being said, most charities in this province are incredibly effective at managing their finances and stretching a dollar farther than most. But as the province works to reconfigure how it disperses gaming funds, how can groups be expected to plan for the future when they are being held in limbo about when their applications will be reviewed and if they will receive any funding? No business would be expected to live with this kind of uncertainty but it’s ok to do this to charities?

Charitable giving – whether from individuals, businesses or government – is an investment in our communities. Whether groups provide social support or environmental education, we provide a service that governments often no longer can and we do it for a fraction of the cost. Diverting funds from charities to other parts of the government expenditure ledger is violating the spirit of the agreement on how gaming funds would be spent.

Please sign this petition asking for gaming funds to be re-instated and forward to your networks. Without these funds, communites around BC will lose needed services and the impacts could be far-reaching.

http://www.petitiononline.com/VCBS2010/petition.html

Thanks for your support!