Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 20, 1993 TAG: 9303220373
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
BINGO - FOR THE FUN OF IT
I AM SURPRISED by the attention you have devoted to bingo games operated by local charitable organizations, and I am very disappointed that your March 10 editorial ("Jackpot doesn't go to charities") implied that people were being misled and ripped off because of the expenses involved.I'd like to see a show of hands from bingo players who have inquired about the expense involved and who go to bingo under the pretense that their primary purpose is for supporting their favorite charity. Do you play the lottery because it supports state-operated projects and programs? No, you want to win money, and so do bingo players. It gives them a form of entertainment which they enjoy and can afford.
As the charitable dollar becomes more and more difficult to obtain, especially in these tough economic times, you will find more and more charitable organizations seeking creative but legal ways to produce revenues to supplement their programs and services.
One of your writers recently wrote that she attended a charitable bachelor auction and even spent some money to purchase one of the weekend "packages." She reported the event's income, but did she inquire as to how her money was being spent? I suggest that supporting the charity was a secondary motive. She had fun and bought something she wanted in an atmosphere that was packaged to produce such purchases. No harm here, right?
When an organization raffles off a car, most likely they have gambled that they could purchase the car at dealer's cost and make a few bucks. What is wrong with spending $10,000 to make $11,000? I wish I could find a way to earn 10 percent on my money (if I had any) without a gamble.
Sooner or later people will understand that nonprofits aren't prohibited from making a profit. But just like in the world of profiting big businesses, charity is a business looking for a certain niche or constituency to support, directly or indirectly, its goals and objectives.
Mayor Bowers is correct in his concern that it is possible that state laws may be circumvented, but I doubt that charities look at bingo as a way to circumvent laws. Show me how many people have written or called to complain about the expense-to-profit ratio of charitable bingo games and I'll understand all the hoopla.
The fact is that there is a state law which City Council feels is not quite right. Let's talk about the law being wrong, not the organizations that are trying to make a buck for charitable purposes while operating in a completely legal fashion. GEOFFREY W. WHITTAKER ROANOKE