"the People's Paths!" Cherokee News Path - Cherokee Casino Employees Rise To Challenge

CATOOSA, Oklahoma - As part of Cherokee Casino’s employee troop supply drive, the security, surveillance and loss prevention department filled seven pallets recently with 22,635 donated items, winning a company-wide challenge. Overall, casino employees collected more than 40,000 items during the month-long drive in May. The items will be packaged and shipped to Iraq this week to troops serving with Oklahoma’s own 45th Infantry Brigade.

“Last year, we were able to collect hundreds of boxes of supplies for our troops stationed overseas,” said David Stewart, CEO of Cherokee Nation Enterprises, which operates Cherokee Casinos. “This year, we decided to add a little friendly competition between departments to see who could bring in the most supplies. It prompted a staggering response from our employees.”

“When we found out about the contest, I e-mailed Jeremy Baker, one of our employees stationed in Iraq,” said senior security manager Ken Holloway. “I asked him, ‘When you pray to God at night, what do you ask for?’”

Using Baker’s response as a starting point, the 363 employees working in security, surveillance and loss prevention from all seven Cherokee Casino locations started their own intra-departmental competition. Catoosa’s security employees brought in the most, averaging 133 items per employee, while security personnel at West Siloam Springs donated more than 5,000 items, or an average of 56 pieces per person.

As part of their efforts, the security and surveillance department received donations from multiple companies. At least one employee also received cash donations from people standing near him in the register line.

“When we were standing in the check-out line with these shopping carts full of stuff, people would come over and ask about it, thinking it was for a baseball tournament,” Holloway said. “When we’d tell them it was for the troops, many of them just took out their wallets and handed us money and told us to get a few more items.”

The troop supply drive solicited supplies such as personal hygiene products, sunglasses, snack foods, games, dental care products, correspondence supplies such as writing paper and pens, sunscreen, mosquito repellant coils, drink mixes, printed materials, CD’s, DVD’s and AA batteries from guests and employees at all seven Cherokee Casino locations.

The supply drive is a part of Cherokee Casinos’ active support of American troops serving abroad. Last year, Cherokee Casinos donated $35,000 to help bring 466 northeastern Oklahoma troops home for the holidays. The company also recently donated money to the Family Readiness Group of the 120th Engineer Combat Battalion located in northeastern Oklahoma to help support and assist families of guardsmen during and after deployment.

CNE operates seven casinos, located in Catoosa, West Siloam Springs, Tahlequah, Fort Gibson, Roland, Sallisaw and Claremore.