Kansas City, Mo.—The Gaming Entertainment Research and Education Foundation (GEREF) announced today new funding commitments of $1.95 million, bringing the total amount pledged by the casino industry to nearly $7 million since 1996. These funds will support disordered gambling research through the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG), a division of GEREF.
Maj. Gen. Paul Harvey, chairman of the GEREF, also announced its intention to broaden fund-raising efforts to include all segments of the gaming industry. "The additional financial support we are announcing today demonstrates the casino industry's commitment to addressing pathological and youth gambling," Harvey said. "It is important, however, that other parts of the gaming industry do the same and it is our plan to launch an initiative, this year, that will involve the entire gaming industry in NCRG's efforts."
"The unprecedented support of these companies is a vote of confidence for the research funded by NCRG and an acknowledgment of its great accomplishments in just three years," Harvey said.
The following donors have renewed their annual contributions of $100,000 for three years: Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., International Game Technology, The Lincy Foundation, Circus Circus Enterprises, Inc., and Mirage Resorts, Inc. In addition, Park Place Entertainment Corp. has pledged a total of $450,000 through the year 2002.
These contributors join the founding donors, Boyd Gaming Corporation and Station Casinos, whose 10-year financial commitments launched GEREF and the NCRG. Other donors include Aztar Corporation, Boomtown, Inc., Casino Data Systems, Inc., Coast Resorts, Inc., Empress Riverboat Casinos, Inc., Foxwoods Resort Casino, Harveys Casino Resorts, Hollywood Casino Corporation, Horseshoe Gaming, Inc., JCM American Corporation, Mission Industries, Mohegan Sun, Shuffle Master Gaming, Inc. and Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada.
The NCRG has established a highly competitive and widely respected grants program that has awarded $2.5 million to leading research institutions such as Harvard Medical School and Washington University, St. Louis.
The first NCRG grant supported the Harvard Medical School study of the prevalence of the disorder in the United States and Canada. A recently released report by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences praised the Harvard project for developing the most credible estimates of how many people suffer from gambling disorders.
The NCRG also promotes public awareness of gambling disorders and dialogue between scientists and clinicians through seminars and conferences. In February 1999, the NCRG sponsored the first-ever-academic conference on disordered gambling research at The George Washington University.
