Backus Legion gaming partnership donates over $100k in 2022

   Backus, MN. The Backus American Legion Charitable Gaming Partnership with longtime affiliate Willard’s Saloon and Eatery have achieved another successful year of support to local, state, and national causes. In 2022 we continued our quest to increase our donations and have donated over 1.1 million in our program’s history, while also setting a program high of $103,175 donations in calendar year 2022. Ninety Percent (90%) of all donations were provided to entities within the Backus, Pine River, and Hackensack area.

   The state of Minnesota was by far the largest recipient of the Backus Legion’s Lawful Purpose gambling, collecting $232,758 in Minnesota tax revenue while Federal taxes were $13,973. Among the highlights to share is a sampling of local donations such as the Pine River-Backus school that received $14,300 in funding and scholarships; $26,000 to the City of Backus for the Fire Department and First Responders and area Food Shelves received $14,500. The donations for Veteran needs were $8,000 of which $6,300 was provided to local area Veteran causes. Donations for food for seniors and disabled were $3,530 and $5,085 was provided for community arts. Total revenue from all forms of gambling totaled $738,692 in 2022. The total of Lawful Purpose expenses totaled $181,950 while all expenses totaled $571,190. All in all, our charitable gaming program provided support to 57 very worthwhile entities. We added Purse Bingo this year that proved successful for our first attempt, and we look forward to additional Purse Bingo-like games in 2023. In addition, leadership is currently considering an upgrade to paper pull tab processes by incorporating proven technology to reduce seller and management administrative time.

   Information from the State: The MN Gambling Control Board reports that as of June 30, 2022, there were 1,140 licensed organizations conducting lawful gambling at 2,988 locations throughout Minnesota. FY22 total sales were $4.3 billion, the largest amount ever. Pull-tabs made up 96% of total sales (paper pull-tabs 50.1% and electronic pull-tabs 45.6%).

   The Backus American Legion and its charitable gaming partner Willards, express our gratitude to the community, our members, customers, and volunteers (our Patrons). We are the venues that provide fun, charitable gaming for all to enjoy, while it is our patrons that enable us to deliver positive impacts across our community. With your continued patronage and support, we will once again succeed and meet our established goals and objectives for 2023.