Boyd Gaming has donated $100,000 to provide financial support to help those who have been victims of the continuing wildfires in Hawaii.
As per the Las Vegas Review Journal, the operator of the California Hotel and Casino donated the funds to the American Red Cross, which is working to provide relief and support to victims of the wildfires.
Hawaii, which has long suffered from wildfires, has been subsumed in the latest blaze which has taken the lives of 114 people at the time of writing, but estimates suggest that the toll could double in the next few days. As a result, it is the deadliest US wildfire in over 100 years.
Boyd, therefore, has stepped up to donate funds to ensure that victims receive support to rebuild their lives.
“This is not just an abstract thing we hear about in the news,” David Strow, VP of Corporate Communications at Boyd told the Review Journal. “Many of our team members call this place (Hawaii) home or have family there, or they have longtime customers who are from there.”
Boyd has history and can trace its roots back to Hawaii, as its resorts have been marketed to Hawaiians since the 1970s. Sam Boyd, who founded the company, lived on the island and moved to Vegas in the 1940s. He then marketed the California to those who lived in Hawaii.
So, for Boyd, these wildfires stoked a sense of purpose and responsibility, leading to this donation. And Strow explained that, to this day, much of the California’s clientele travel over from Hawaii.
“Without Hawaii, there’s no Boyd Gaming,” he said. “If they didn’t come to the California, that property wouldn’t have succeeded and everything that came after. It’s no exaggeration to say Hawaii is our heart and soul.”
