October 24, 2017 – Campbell River, BC – On October 20th, the Grassroots Kind Hearts Society received a cheque for $5,000 from Chances Campbell River as part of GatewayGIVES’ 25 Days of Giving in celebration of Gateway’s 25th anniversary in the business of entertainment.

GatewayGIVES is the corporate giving and community engagement program of Gateway Casinos. The 25 Days of Giving campaign will contribute $5,000 to a worthy local charity selected by employees, in each of the communities where Gateway operates. At the end of the October campaign, GatewayGIVES will have donated a total of $125,000 to the deserving, employee-selected, charities across Canada.

Gateway has dedicated the month of October to celebrate its silver anniversary with customers, communities and employees. As part of the festivities they launched the 25 Days of Giving campaign through GatewayGIVES and are letting their employees select the charity of their choice in the communities where they live and work. The Grassroots Kind Hearts Society was selected in recognition of its ongoing work to support and provide home-cooked meals, 7 nights a week, to Elders, family and friends to currently reside on the streets of Campbell River. This dedicated organization also feeds those that are at risk of being homeless and those in homes but living in poverty.

Krisandra Rufus, Founder of the Grassroots Kind Heart Society was moved to tears when presented with the donation and said, “I can’t believe it! You all are so sweet, this will help so many people.”

Steve Shorrock, General Manager of Chances Campbell River, said “when we put out the call for nominations of worthy charities, a large number of our team nominated Grassroots. A few of our team members volunteer with the organization and we all appreciate and recognize the huge impact that Grassroots has on our community. It was the clear, deserving, winner”.

Aaron Rioux, a Cook at Chance Campbell River is the one who initially nominated Grassroots and he said he “just wanted to help someone deserving in the community.”  Grassroots does vital work in feeding the city’s homeless but are also working towards a larger goal of providing a permanent facility with additional support services.