ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 4, 1997 TAG: 9703040053
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
BINGO. It's for a good cause, right?
Right. Except many of Virginia's top bingo operations turn over scant little of their proceeds to those causes. Sometimes, shamefully, it's no more than 3 percent or 5 percent of the take.
The state's Charitable Gaming Commission was set up last year to regulate the games, following reports of scandalous rip-offs of charitable dollars by some operators. At least 12 percent of the proceeds, the commission says, should go to the sponsoring charity.
That's certainly not unreasonable, since benefiting religious and charitable organizations was the presumed reason for Virginia's legalization of this particular form of gambling. Nor, with bingo having grown into a $225 million-a-year industry in Virginia, is the 12-percent minimum likely to crimp the enthusiasm of operators for conducting the games on behalf of charities.
The 1997 General Assembly passed a law that will exempt from regulation the charitable-gaming operations that gross less than $25,000 a year. This will likely include most raffles (also regulated by the commission) and occasional bingo parties thrown by civic clubs and others to raise money for a special project.
But however wholesome and entertaining a good, lively game of bingo is regarded by many, the fact that some charitable organizations have become heavily dependent on gambling to make ends meet is troubling. Among the dependent are groups that vigorously opposed the state lottery and proposals for riverboat casinos and off-track betting parlors.
In a recent news story, the Richmond Times-Dispatch quoted Steve Brown, president-elect of a Richmond-area synagogue. The synagogue, Brown said, could not survive financially without twice-weekly bingo games. The proceeds from these are needed to pay the salary of its rabbi and its mortgage obligations.
``If we didn't have the bingo," Brown said, "we would be gone.''
Brown's isn't the only worthy organization in Virginia that's finding sufficient support comes only with the chance at a jackpot. Gambling's corrosive effect comes in more than one form: Its addictive qualities can sometimes be seen not only among those who gamble but also among those who sponsor gambling.
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