The Gambling Industry to unite with Oxfam and show it really does care.

No one watching the news in the past week could have ignored the cries and pleas for help coming from one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere – Haiti. Those pleas, it seems, have not fallen on deaf ears, as the iGaming Community is coming together and showing that it is the duty of those who have plenty, to aid those who have none.

“It is a disaster in Haiti. I know they have had a tough go from Mother Nature recently, hurricanes and now this earth quake, but I can not help but be disgusted with the ruling elite that has driven this country down.” Calvin Ayre, the infamous founder of the Bodog brand and CalvinAyre.com stated, “I want to challenge the rest of this industry to contribute to Oxfam to help out in Haiti and my private foundation will match any proven payment to Oxfam by an online gaming person up to $1,000,000.”

Rising to the challenge is iGaming Business, who as the largest media outlet for the iGaming world, have sent out a call to arms to everyone in the industry, engaging in a special partnership with Oxfam to get the message across far and wide. For the next 10 days, donations will be taken at: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/donate/haiti…ke/calvin-ayre
and every penny will be tracked. This will culminate in the grand unveiling of the total amount raised, and doubled by Calvin, at the iGB Affiliate Awards, due to be held at the Grange St Paul Hotel on the 28th of January. The awards will be streamed live on the night as Oxfam pick up the cheque to be sent straight to their hardworking team in Haiti, allowing every person who has donated to see the end result.

“We are truly impressed by the iGaming communities’ effort and drive for the survivors of the Haiti earthquake. Access to safe water is one of the most immediate problems to resolve now and with this phenomenal support, we will be able to save lives immediately, by providing clean water and sanitation, as well as shelter for the people who have lost their homes and family.” Declared Chris Ashworth, Corporate Partnership manager for Oxfam GB. “As one of the world’s foremost Humanitarian relief organisations Oxfam’s international network will continue to support the people of Haiti and work to rebuild their lives and livelihood for as long as it takes. We cannot thank the gaming community enough for this act of generosity at a time of such enormous need.”

It is now up to the companies and individuals in iGaming to see whether they will be able to live up to expectations and potentially save millions of lives. Perhaps this truly might reflect the well know mantra that in times of crisis, communities do rally together. It is clear, however, that every little donation made at
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/donate/haiti…ke/calvin-ayre will not only make a difference, but with double the stakes at play, be a remarkable achievement.

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Tags: calvin ayre, donate to the Haiti disaster, Haiti disaster, oxfam

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 10:19 am and is filed under Poker Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.