Gaming

The Sakakawea Fence Stretchers Inc has been a 501(c)(3) charitable organization in good standing since 2019.  We currently do not have any charitable gaming sites.  We are actively in search of a site were we can conduct gaming, our message as to why we are seeking a gaming site(s) boils down to the simple conclusion that we have many gaming sites within our trail system that are not local, and are not returning very much or being charitable to many of the non gaming non profits in our area. Our organization relies heavily on donations to fund our everyday operations when grooming the trail system, without the cooperation of gaming organizations donating charitable funds to local organizations we will likely see them disappear from our landscape to never be seen again. We do have a couple LOCAL gaming organizations that are great and very charitable and we commend them for that, we greatly appreciate their support for our communities.  But the truth is the majority of local gaming funds are leaving the area for the big city lights and from what we can see very little of it makes it back to our communities.  Any site(s) we procure we will pledge to return the charitable funds to the area and to projects that better the area in which procured the funds.   A real world hypothetical example of what is currently happening is a big city organization that supports a kids sporting group that brings in millions of dollars in gaming that has 15 or more gaming sites takes the money, spends it on big city sports by sending big city kid athletes all over the country to play in tournaments, all the while our local school is having a bake sale and selling pizzas just to try to get a few dollars scrounged up for uniforms or some new basketballs.  The money is there to support these groups, so why are we OK shipping the money out to never come back.  Don’t get me wrong, these organizations do send SOME donations to the local Fire Departments, ambulances and some schools, but the actual percentage coming back to our communities is so low I think the general public would be shocked and outraged to know the truth, and to find out how much money these gaming operations actually bring in, it would make the average taxpayer wonder why property and sales taxes need to go up for community upgrades.  Please pay attention to who the gaming organization is at your local pub, it needs to be posted in the establishment.  If your pub does not use a local charity ask them why, because there are several options that are local, these pubs are relying heavily on local patrons to keep their businesses operating.  Our message is “Buy Local when possible and support local businesses and organizations that also support the community in return.