Global entertainment and hospitality company MGM Resorts recently announced its support of Yonkers Partners in Education’s new state-of-the-art learning space, the YPIE College Zone. Empire City Casino, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of MGM Resorts, acquired by the company earlier this year, said it is proud to support college access and readiness for students that participate in YPIE from across the Yonkers Public Schools.
“We are excited to support this important program and demonstrate MGM Resort’s dedication to Yonkers and its public school students,” said Empire City Casino President and Chief Operating Office Uri Clinton. “Our company is grounded in core values that aim to improve the communities where we operate, and we strive to give everyone the opportunity to advance their education. We applaud YPIE’s work and look forward to our continued partnership.”
The new YPIE College Zone, a 5000-plus-square-foot after-school learning space, brings together hundreds of Yonkers high school students each week to learn, be inspired, and be part of a community on the path to college success.
With funding from MGM Resorts, YPIE has included an industrial-sized, multi-purpose kitchen in the College Zone that provides a space for students to connect, nourish, and take part in culinary learning experiences. YPIE is offering nutrition and culinary activities to YPIE scholars on a regular basis with the support of volunteers and a partnership with Feeding Westchester. Recent activities include exploring nutritional facts, making chocolate-covered strawberries, and hands-on demonstrations such as how to prepare healthy snacks.
“In a very short time, MGM Resorts has created an impressive presence in Yonkers as a wonderful corporate citizen,” said Sam Wallis, incoming executive director of YPIE. “We are very grateful for this new kitchen – a gift that will benefit hundreds of students each week.”
Additionally, MGM Resorts will partner with YPIE to create exciting learning experiences, such as having MGM’s best-in-class culinary team teach lessons for small groups of students throughout the year.
MGM Resorts has a long track record of giving back to the communities in which it has resorts, including making 85 community grants, $21 million in charitable contributions, and logging 123,700 hours of employee community service in 2018 alone. The company’s Feeding Forward initiative rescued 325,000 pounds of unserved food from its resorts in 2018, providing 270,000 meals to the hungry in southern Nevada.
MGM’s passion for hunger relief goes beyond Nevada, to all of its regional communities, where the company donates dollars and service to this cause, among many others.
