Donald Ridenhour, VMA Photographer
Vinton Moose Family Center 1121 Administrator Clark Crawley presents a check to Willard Smith.
Moose Lodge 1121 of Vinton, Virginia, has made a $10,000 donation to Vetshouse, Inc., a nonprofit organization that helps homeless veterans to secure housing and job opportunities in the Hampton Roads region. This donation was made possible through member donations and proceeds from legal charitable gaming.
“The Vinton Moose Lodge is so proud to support Vetshouse, where their programming truly does change lives for the better by offering ‘a hand up, not a handout,’” said Clark Crawley, Administrator of the Vinton Moose Lodge. “We are honored to play a part in offering these veterans, who have already given us so much, a second chance at obtaining a reliable job and long-term home.”
Vetshouse operates a unique twelve-month program that provides homeless veterans with transitional housing in contemporary homes, food, transportation, and job placement, personal skills and development counseling. Since its launch in 1992, over 500 homeless veterans in the region have been assisted, and over 70% of residents have successfully completed the program.
Vetshouse estimates there are over 2,500 homeless veterans in the Hampton Roads area, and that one out of every four homeless persons in Hampton Roads is a military veteran. In their most recent report, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimated more than 37,200 American veterans experienced homelessness in January 2020.
In addition to member donations, fundraisers and grants, state-regulated charitable gaming, which is the oldest form of regulated gaming in the Commonwealth of Virginia, is indispensable to the Virginia Moose Association’s charitable giving – enabling the organization to support local veterans, students, children and families.
“Charitable gaming is essential to our ability to raise funds and support people in local Virginia communities,” said Clark Crawley. “Whether through bingo hall nights, raffles or the operation of electronic pull tab machines, the Virginia Moose Association and our lodges rely on these proceeds for our charity work and year-round programming.”
However, in recent years, the growth of illegal gambling in Virginia has severely cut into legal charitable gaming revenues. Illegal gaming – which is unregulated and untaxed – is oftentimes difficult to distinguish from legal, charitable gaming programs. As such, there is a need for the General Assembly to protect legal charitable gaming and the local charitable donations it supports.
About the Vinton Moose Lodge and the Virginia Moose Association:
The Vinton Moose Lodge is a private, charitable service organization based in Vinton, Virginia. In Virginia alone, the Moose has 83 Lodges with over 50,000 members.
About Moose International:
The Moose is an international service organization founded in 1888, and today has over 1 million members and Lodges in 49 states and four Canadian provinces, plus Great Britain and Bermuda. Moose Lodges conduct between $70 million and $100 million worth of community service (counting monetary donations, volunteer hours worked, and miles driven) annually.