American lottery and gaming machines innovator, Scientific Games Corporation (SG), has announced that it has donated $100,000 to help the southern state of Florida recover from the devastation wrought by last month’s Hurricane Michael.

Pair of programs to benefit:

The Las Vegas-headquartered firm used an official Thursday press release (pdf) to declare that half of the money has been gifted to the Florida Disaster Fund with the remainder going to aid the Bay Law Enforcement Assistance Foundation.

Gratitude for ‘major business partner’:

Jim Kennedy, Executive Vice-President for Scientific Games Corporation, stated that the Florida Lottery has been ‘a major business partner’ ever since its inception in 1988 and his firm is now eager ‘to do everything we can’ to assist the state to ‘come back stronger than ever before.’

Kennedy’s statement read…

“We have a very strong connection to Florida. Millions of Floridians have played our Florida Lottery games over the last 30 years and we have a very dedicated base of Scientific Games Corporation employees here in the state. So, it is important to us to follow Governor Rick Scott and Governor-Elect Ron DeSantis’ lead and help those in need following Hurricane Michael.”

Storm brought devastation:

The strongest storm to hit the United States since 2004, Hurricane Michael slammed into the Florida Panhandle on the morning of October 10 with winds of 155 miles per hour as well as an around 14-foot storm surge. The Category 4 hurricane is thought to have killed approximately 45 people as it devastated large parts of Bay County including the complete obliteration of the small seaside community of Mexico Beach.

Assistance for local law enforcement:

SG explained that the $50,000 it has given the Florida Disaster Fund will help local communities to recover from this destruction while the same amount of cash is to be utilized by the Bay Law Enforcement Assistance Foundation to provide financial assistance for local deputies that may have lost possessions or homes during the storm.

Tommy Ford, Sheriff for Bay County, proclaimed that he was ‘overwhelmed by the generosity’ Scientific Games Corporation has shown and revealed that the funds will be used to ‘help many of my deputies who have lost everything in Hurricane Michael.’

Ford’s statement read…

“It has been heart-breaking to see the serious losses in our community following the storm but the silver lining in it all is seeing incredible private sector partners like Scientific Games Corporation step forward and provide relief in our time of need.”