Bingo’s Great Contribution to the State of Virginia

The scene each bingo night at the Moose Lodge located in Bedford up to the Ruritan Club is always the same with players, male and female, concentrating so hard on their cards during each game to the point that they are unaware of their surroundings anymore and praying that they will be the next people to hit the jackpot.

The bingo industry is a big money drawer in Virginia. Just last year, the Virginia Department of Charitable Gaming reported that bingo earned about $400 million with about $48 million going to charities. There is a rule in Virginia that a bingo hall must give about 10% of its earnings to charities.

Christie Gordon and Chiquita Morris are just a couple of the many bingo players that play the game at the Spout Spring Ruritan Club not only for the money but for the sheer enjoyment and love of the game.

Both Gordon and Morris have had remarkable good luck in the past weeks and they are hoping to continue their good run that bingo night. Another player, William Layne and his wife Alice are so into it that each week with a group or volunteers, they help to make the bingo night at Spout Spring bingo a resounding success because they know that the money earned that night will go to different non-profit organizations that really need it.

Jane Mays, a teacher at the Nelson County Public School System about 20 years ago sees bingo as a good way for her students to have a good education and enjoy themselves by going on field trips at the same time. Jane Mays says that they often lack money and that it is virtually impossible to plan trips or update their school with the latest technology.

She was able to convince their principal with her “sales pitch” regarding bingo. What totally convinced their principal about the benefits of a bingo game was when he saw the total earnings for that first bingo night – $5,000!

Even though she is retired now, Jane Mays still helps to raise funds for the school in cooperation with the Nelson Schools Boosters’ Bingo. Since the start of the bingo games almost 2 decades ago, the school has generated about $1 million for their funding.

The band, drama, football, track and other organizations at the school receive a share of this funding. In closing, Jane Mays added that they hope to continue this for a long time and attract many players, even from surrounding states.