BAY ST. LOUIS, MS. – Hollywood cast members held a month long food drive to benefit the Hancock County Food Pantry last month. Altogether, casino employees donated more than 400 lbs. of non-perishable food items including a $1,000 check from its parent company Penn National Gaming Foundation.

“We help feed 500 families per month through supplementing their groceries in Hancock County and with the Katrina relief gone, the need is still there,” said Hancock Food Pantry Board Member Bill Blaisdell. “We appreciate everything Hollywood and Penn National Gaming do for us,” said Blaisdell.

“We donate food to the Food Pantry throughout the year, not just holidays,” said Senior Director of Human Resources Leslie Patrick. “These donations come from the heart of our employees who are a vital part of Hancock County. This is just one of many ways we all work to help our community,” said Patrick.

Hollywood Casino cast members actively participate in numerous non-profit fundraising and volunteer thousands of hours to benefit the Gulf Coast community year round including the Red Cross, Hancock County Food Pantry, United Way, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Camp Civitan, March of Dimes among other organizations.

BAY ST. LOUIS, MS. – Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis and its cast members donated nearly 600 lbs of turkey including enough stuffing to feed 600 people to area non-profit agencies last week. “There’s more to come,” said Senior Director of Human Resources, Leslie Patrick.

Each year Hollywood Casino donates food items to help provide free holiday meals at the American Legion Hall in Bay St. Louis and the Hancock County Food Pantry. Hollywood Casino also gives each cast member holiday turkeys and hams in November and December. Employees often extend this generous notion by contributing their gifts from the company to the non-profit food agencies as well.

“It just goes to show you that being charitable is very contagious,” said Patrick. “We all benefit from sharing with others.”

October 28, 2008 - BAY ST. LOUIS – BAY ST. LOUIS, MS. – Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis cast members joined walkers in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer together raising more than $250,000 last Saturday. More than 5,000 volunteers participated in 5K (3.1 mile) walk around the Biloxi Town Green.

“We think this is another very worth while and important cause and we are pleased to participate,” said Maria Salter, organizer of the cast member team and trainer at Hollywood Casino. “We’re glad to see this money go toward research and knocking out breast cancer and other various forms of cancer,” said Salter.

Making Strides Against Cancer is a nation-wide event organized by the American Cancer Society. This is the second year Hollywood cast members have participated. Walking teams can register in advance or on-site. To learn how to help fight breast cancer, please visit www.cancer.org/stridesonline.

Hollywood Casino cast members also actively participate in numerous outside non-profit fundraising and volunteer efforts year round including the Hancock Food Pantry, United Way, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Camp Civitan, March of Dimes and more. Hollywood Casino employees also established a Section 501c (4) non profit organization called Hollywood Cast Member Relief Fund (HCMRF) to raise funding for helping co-workers facing financial hardship for a variety of reasons such as terminal illnesses, devastating home fires, and life altering disabilities.

BAY ST. LOUIS – BAY ST. LOUIS, MS. – Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis cast members joined volunteers along the Coast for Coastal Cleanup ’08 last Saturday. Cast members picked up 30 bags of trash and large debris scattered on Beach Boulevard in Bay St. Louis between Cedar Point and Dunbar Road.


Not all of the trash could be gathered, bagged or carried to the side of the street for pickup. Items collected ranged from crab traps entangled in trees, to discarded household items like televisions and mattresses to dilapidated and abandoned homes. “We were amazed at how much debris we removed from the wetlands adjacent to the lower Bay of St. Louis area,” said Maria Salter, organizer of the cast member team and trainer at Hollywood Casino. “We realize that we are just a small part of the fantastic volunteers who participated in Coast Cleanup 2008 and we’re very proud to be a part of it,” said Salter.

October 17, 2008 - BAY ST. LOUIS, MS. –  Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis has allocated $20,000 to help its employees purchase homes through the Regional Employer Assisted Collaboration for Housing, (REACH) Mississippi program. REACH will match Hollywood Casino’s contributions three-to-one giving four families a total of $20,000 in down payment and closing cost assistance.

“We’re very pleased to be able to do this for our employees and hope to see other businesses participate,” said General Manager John Chaszar. “It’s a great way for private business, non-profit and government programs to work for the betterment of all.”

Hollywood applicants must be in good standing; have been employed with the company for at least 2 years and commit to staying with the casino for five additional years.

To qualify, the Hollywood Casino employees must have a household income under 120 percent of the area median income (about $58,800 for a family of four). Employees can begin submitting their applications through Hollywood Casino’s human resource department on October 20, 2008.

REACH is a program of the Gulf Coast Renaissance Corporation which will help over 2,000 working families buy homes in the coastal counties. Through REACH qualified workers can receive down payment and closing cost assistance through an employer benefit and a significant matching benefit. REACH Mississippi will triple participating employers’ contributions for qualified employees. Employer contributions must be between $5,000 and $10,000 resulting in a total employee benefit of $20,000 to $40,000, respectively.

“This program is designed to help put working families into homes by making homeownership affordable again,” said Renaissance CEO Kimberly LaRosa. “The program has far reaching benefits to the economy of the entire region. By giving employers the keys they need to rebuild and prosper, we will all prosper.”

Businesses are encouraged to contact the Gulf Coast Renaissance Corporation to participate in the REACH program today. The program is open to employees in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties. To find out more, call (228) 896-3386, visit www.reachmississippi.com, or e-mail reach@msgcrc.com.

October 17, 2008 - BAY ST. LOUIS, MS. – Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis held an open call to host a Fall Blood Drive with the American Red Cross today. Cast members and the public donated 87pints of life saving blood. “ One pint of blood can save up to three lives, so we’ll continue to help collect blood for our community,” said Jennifer Granger, director of resort operations and organizer of the drive. As we begin to enter the holiday season, it is especially important to build the blood supply for our hospitals and for unexpected emergency purposes.

August 8, 2008 - BAY ST. LOUIS, MS. – Hollywood cast members entertained more than 100 adult Civitan Campers with a casino last month in Wiggins, MS. The special education adult campers enjoyed Black Jack, where they played for fun and prizes purchased with play money. “This year’s theme was ‘Livin’ La Vida Campo,’ that means living the camp life,” said organizer and Hollywood employee Judy Brockhaus. “We look forward to this every year, there is always something new, and you never come back the same as you left,” said Brockhaus.

This was the fifth-tenth year our employees volunteered to host casino night. Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis shuttled employees to the camp and back with a caravan of employee family members following closely to lend their support for these special campers.

BAY ST. LOUIS, MS. – One doesn’t have to look far around Hancock County to find someone in need. While approximately nine out of 10 cast members lost most everything they own, they still find the time and money to help others around them. In many cases, it’s each other.

Hollywood Casino cast members actively participate in numerous non-profit fundraising and volunteer efforts year round including the Hancock Food Pantry, United Way, Red Cross Blood Drives, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, March of Dimes, Camp Civitan and more.

Hollywood Casino employees have also established a Section 501c(3) non-profit organization called Hollywood Cast Member Relief Fund (HCMRF) to raise funding for helping co-workers facing financial hardship for a variety of reasons such as terminal illnesses, devastating home fires, and life altering disabilities.

Last Thanksgiving, Hollywood Casino donated more than 700 meals to feed the hungry during the holidays, including entire families.

Hollywood Casino employees have also established a Section 501c(3) non-profit organization called Hollywood Cast Member Relief Fund (HCMRF) to raise funding for helping co-workers facing financial hardship for a variety of reasons such as terminal illnesses, devastating home fires, and life altering disabilities.

Perhaps the best known outreach effort is Camp Civitan. Camp Civitan is a non-profit organization dedicated to individuals with developmental disabilities.

Every year, Hollywood cast members entertain more than 110 adult Civitan Campers with a casino night in Wiggins, MS. These campers enjoy Black Jack, where they play for fun and prizes purchased with play money. “Last summer was the fourteenth time our employees volunteered to host casino night,” said organizer and Hollywood employee Judy Brockhaus. “Most of our employees volunteer every summer. It’s contagious,” said Brockhaus.

Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis shuttles employees to the camp and back with a caravan of employee family members following closely to lend their support for these outstanding campers.

“I look forward to this evening every year. You can just see the joy and excitement we’re bringing to the campers,” said Gwen Crawford, a house person for Hollywood.

“I think we probably enjoy casino night as much or more than the campers do,” said Maria Salter, human resources trainer.

When the new $280 million Bay St. Louis Bridge re-opened last May, after being destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, it only seemed appropriate that a W.C.1- 30J Hurricane Hunter aircraft played a major part in the celebration of the ribbon tying ceremony and after party called “Bridge Fest.” The same aircraft that flew into the eye of Katrina to gather life saving information leading to a mass evacuation using the former bridge for the last time flew over the new bridge at the moment officials tied a ribbon on the middle kicking off this historical occasion.

Hollywood Casino was the leading sponsor and a principal organizer in hosting the huge open-air festival with the Hancock County Chamber of Commerce. “Our community needed this extraordinary party,” said Bob Davidge, advertising and public relations manager. “I can’t even begin to tell you how many people came up to me to express their gratitude during the festival and I received a number of emails and letters as well,” said Davidge.

Now, known as southern Mississippi’s most successful event ever, the bridge-opening ceremony attracted international media attention on May 17, 2007, the Coast was reconnected for the first time since Katrina made landfall August 29, 2005. With just three weeks to prepare, Hollywood Casino provided tables, hot food, tables, shuttle services, countless hours of employee services and a magnificent hot air balloon for a crowd estimated to be more than 10,000 people.

The opening ceremony began at the foot of the new bridge on the Bay St. Louis side where federal, state, and local officials spoke to the public on stage before moving to the middle of the bridge for the ribbon tying, a blessing by local clergy of various religious denominations, and the dropping of a floral wreath to recognize those who died in the hurricane.

Each year, Hollywood Casino cast members join millions across the country in the fight against muscular dystrophy. To at least one cast member the fight is very personal. Assistant Buffet Manager Victoria Penny's son Colby has limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. Colby is 12 years-old and goes to Bayou View middle school in Gulfport.

Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis sponsors an hour of the local telethon on WLOX-TV and cast members volunteer on the phone bank taking pledges during local and national cuts in from the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon live from Las Vegas, Nevada.

Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis holds two to three blood drives with the American Red Cross in the Cypress Ball Room. This is especially important during the holiday season in order to build the blood supply for our hospitals and for unexpected emergency purposes. All blood collected stays in Mississippi to help those in our area.

These are just a few examples of the outstanding collective effort and generosity of Hollywood’s cast members. Many of them also actively volunteer on an individual level too. We’re very proud of our warm spirited and caring cast members who truly differentiate our property from the competition both inside and out.