Las Vegas Sands has made a $400,000 investment in community organizations working to empower minority and ethnically diverse groups through Sands Cares, the company's community engagement and charitable giving program. Sands' goal is to help the community address systemic racism and remove inherent barriers to advancement and opportunity. Las Vegas Sands is a resort developer and operator, with a portfolio including The Venetian Resort and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
The diversity community engagement strategy involves two priorities:
- education and mentorship to support youth and workforce empowerment
- advancing social justice through advocacy and awareness
Organizations receiving funding in these areas include Nevada Partners, 100 Black Men Las Vegas, Urban Chamber of Commerce Las Vegas, Hope for Prisoners, Mastering Mindsets Las Vegas, National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc. - Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Urban League.
Nevada Partners will recieve $250,000 to support literacy programs, youth camps and mentoring programs, as well as its soon-to-be-launched Youth Empowerment Center.
100 Black Men Las Vegas will receive $100,000 to support its CrossRoads Mentoring and Life Skills program, Pathways to Public Service program, KCEP Teen Talk public radio talk show and the COVID-19 Community PPE program, which provides masks, gloves and sanitizer to community members. In addition, Sands and 100 Black Men of Las Vegas will be exploring future collaborative opportunities like internships and mentoring.
"The Sands Cares donation will have exponential impact on these programs; for instance, we can more than double the number of youth mentored and expand our reach to different age groups through the CrossRoads program," said Gentry Richardson, president and chief executive of 100 Black Men Las Vegas. "We have previously worked with Sands on our scholarship program and other projects, but this new award is one of the most significant we've received from a Las Vegas organization."