The online gaming industry’s contributions to coronavirus relief efforts keep coming, with the latest donations provided by GGPoker.
The poker operator has raised $50,000 for the Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation’s UHN Emergency COVID-19 Fund.
Through a series of MTTs, GGPoker raked up that five-figure sum which will now be matched by its consultancy partner, NSUS. The $100,000 joint donation will help fund clinical trials at one of Canada’s leading research hospitals.
GGPoker Funding Fight Against Coronavirus
In addition to supporting much-needed research, the money will support those affected by the coronavirus, according to Louise Aspin of Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation.
“This gift will help accelerate the pace of what is possible, both in supporting frontline staff at our hospitals, and critical research that can put an end to this pandemic,” said the hospital’s senior vice president and chief development officer.
Fundraisers and donations from industry operators have become an almost weekly occurrence over the past month. The UK’s Jockey Club recently donated more than $3 million to healthcare workers. Partypoker made a similar move last week by announcing a charity MTT for Britain’s NHS.
Elsewhere in the world, Adda52 has been raising money for India’s impoverished. And in the US, charitable efforts, including those by Run It Once and MGM Resorts, have been launched to help the fight against coronavirus.
Industry Unites For One and All
At a time when the world is uniting against a common problem, the poker community is one sector that’s linking arms the tightest. As one of the few sectors largely unaffected by the current lockdown, online operators are doing their bit to help those in need.
No single donation will heal the damage caused by the coronavirus. Indeed, even though online gaming is thriving, live casinos are in hurting. Sheldon Adelson, CEO of Las Vegas Sands, recently called on all businesses in Sin City to support their workers.
The long-time critic of online poker has pledged to pay all of his employees during the lockdown. But, even with individual casino owners stepping up, the live sector is struggling.
The hope is that an uptick on online activity will allow the industry, as a whole, to recover fairly quickly. However, in the short term, online poker and gaming sites are focusing their efforts elsewhere.
For now at least, operators such as GGPoker are using their resources to help the fight against a global pandemic.
