MGM Resorts’ Empire City Casino is proud to announce that longtime employee and creative manager Justin Graso has been selected as one of three recipients across the country to receive the quarterly MGM Resorts Volunteer Service Award. Graso was selected as a result of his continued commitment to volunteer work. He is steadfastly supportive and supportive of blood drives as a way to ensure a sufficient supply of blood for patients. 바카라
Graso, a New Jersey resident, became a member of the “Gallon Club” in 2022. In 1990, the New York blood center developed the gallon club program to identify frequent donors who donated more than a gallon of blood to save patients’ lives.
Soon, Grasso plans to start donating platelets, which are very fragile, short-lived blood cells that are essential for normal blood clotting. They should be transfused within seven days of donation, which means they are always needed for hospitals to use every day. Platelets are often used to treat patients being treated for cancer, people with blood disorders, bone marrow transplant patients, and accident victims.
Empire City Casino holds regular blood donation events to make it easier for community members and employees to donate blood on a regular basis. Graso regularly participates in blood donation events hosted by his workplace, but when he learned that the blood shortage was continuing, he began donating blood to blood centers in New York and New Jersey every eight weeks.
Volunteer work is an important part of MGM Resorts company culture, with employees across the country volunteering more than 1 million hours to local nonprofits. Empire City Casino employees regularly participate in community volunteer work. Empire City also recently offered grants to nearly a dozen local nonprofits that provide direct services to residents of the communities it operates.
Grasso is a regular participant in these volunteer activities, and the father-of-two’s continued selfless contribution demonstrates the Empire City Casino team’s unwavering commitment to investing time and resources into the community through volunteering, civic engagement, and various philanthropic opportunities.
As a recipient of a volunteer award, Graso receives $2,500 to donate to a nonprofit of his choice. Despite his commitment to the blood donation organization, Graso chose to donate the fund to the Alzheimer’s Association because he tragically lost his grandparents to progressive diseases that destroy memory and other important cognitive functions. The donation will support non-profit organizations’ mission to accelerate global research, reduce risk, detect early, and maximize quality care and support. According to the New York State Department of Health, about 410,000 New Yorkers have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. That number is expected to rise to 460,000 by 2025. New York has the second-highest rate of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia in the U.S.
“After losing both my grandparents, I started thinking more and more about the heartbreaking fact that many people suffering from Alzheimer’s are losing the memories of their loved ones,” said Justin Graso, creative manager at MGM Resort’s Empire City Casino. “I am very grateful to MGM Resorts for not only this honor but also providing me with the financial and volunteer opportunities to support causes that mean a lot to me.”
MGM Resorts instill charitable commitment and pride in employees who have a positive social impact on their communities through volunteering, employee donation and corporate philanthropy. MGM Resorts has implemented a quarterly volunteer award scheme to recognize and commend employee volunteering across its asset portfolio. The Volunteer Award recognizes three employees who have made positive changes within the community through volunteer work at 22 MGM Resort entertainment destinations nationwide.
“I’m incredibly proud of staff like Justin on our team for working especially hard to make such an impactful change,” said Taryn Duffy, vice president of public relations for Empire City, which oversees charitable donations. “We will continue to create an environment where our employees can volunteer and support community charities. It’s a lot of who we are and what we do.”
Grasso’s award represents the most important commitment of parent company MGM Resorts to the volunteer work of Empire City in the New York area and corporate social responsibility. The company’s core areas of philanthropy include food insecurity programs that ensure access to nutritious meals, education programs to support academic success, and workforce development initiatives that provide training and training programs to prepare individuals for sustainable career opportunities.