Hundreds of Thousands in MGM Foundation Grants and Community Sponsorships to Support Westchester and the Bronx in 2025
Empire City Casino by MGM Resorts (“Empire City”) remains dedicated to supporting New Yorkers across the Bronx and Westchester through ongoing employee volunteer efforts, in-kind giving, and strategic partnerships with local nonprofits. These initiatives are backed by grants from the MGM Resorts Foundation and Empire City Casino, with a focus on strengthening the community by concentrating on programs that address food insecurity, expand access to nutritious meals, support public education that fosters academic success, andfunds workforce development initiatives offering training and resources to prepare individuals for sustainable career opportunities.
As the largest gaming floor in the MGM Resorts portfolio, Empire City continues to demonstrate its commitment to corporate responsibility and sustainability initiatives benefiting the greater New York region, including communities throughout Yonkers, Mount Vernon, and the Bronx. Each year, Empire City supports numerous charitable organizations with grant funding, sponsorships, and volunteer hours.
“Delivering meaningful social impact that strengthens our communities is in the DNA of Empire City’s mission, both in New York and across MGM Resorts globally,” said Louis Theros, president and chief operating officer of Empire City Casino by MGM Resorts. “As colleagues, neighbors, and friends, our commitment has only grown stronger as our team goes over and beyond to support their neighbors. We look forward to continuing our work as stewards of community transformation in the Bronx and Westchester for generations to come.”
As part of Empire City’s commitment to address food insecurity at a time when one in three Westchester residents is at risk of hunger, Empire City has provided grants to Feeding Westchester to help deliver over 20,000 meals to local seniors and families in need, as well as support their Retail Recovery program. The program rescues food that would otherwise go to waste, helping feed tens of thousands of people each month. The grants also supported Feeding Westchester’s Kids in the Kitchen program, which offers nutritional education for children and families. Catholic Charities Community Services Archdiocese of New York received grantsto provide nearly 9,000 meals in Yonkers and the Bronx for low-income families and seniors.
Empire City continues to invest in public education programs that foster academic success in local schools. Empire City provided grant funding for the Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon, Project Learn program to help high school seniors graduate. It also provided support for Hudson River Museum of Westchester’s year-round teen leadership program, which engages Yonkers High School students in free STEAM education, college readiness, and mentorship opportunities. Groundwork Hudson Valley has also received funding to support its sustainability education programs, as has the Morris Heights Health Center in the Bronx for its health literacy education program.
Local training programs that cultivate the next generation of the workforce to prepare youth for sustainable careers are also a focus of Empire City’s philanthropy. Visiting Nurse Services received a grant to fund a no-cost home health aide training program, and Westhab programs received grants to support no-cost certification training in the security, construction, and building maintenance industries. Empire City also supported Yonkers Partners in Education’s College Ready and Career Bound programfor students as they transition from high school to college and then into careers. Finally, Visions Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired received financial support for technology training and workforce certification support for the visually impaired.
Since MGM Resorts acquired Empire City in 2019, the company has fostered a strong culture of employee volunteerism. Empire City employees have dedicated thousands of volunteer hours to a wide range of charitable causes throughout 2025, including joining Feeding Westchester to sort produce at their food distribution centers throughout the year, hosting a blood drive with the New York Blood Center to address critical blood shortages, assembling hundreds of summer reading and activity kits for students through United Way of Westchester and Putnam, planting with pre-kindergarten students at Queen’s Daughter Daycare, distributing food to communities in need through Catholic Charities, Feeding Westchester and Part of the Solution, and volunteering on the 9/11 Day of Service with Volunteer New York.
Empire City also supports local partners through strategic sponsorships to advance their missions throughout the year. These include sponsorships for the Youth Outreach Program of Mt. Vernon after school care programs and summer camps, the Bronx Chamber Foundation scholarships for college-bound high school seniors, the Food Bank for New York City popup food pantry in the Bronx that provided fresh food to hundreds of families, as well as public education programs through United Way of Westchester and Putnum, ArtsWestchester, Untermyer Performing Arts Council. Yonkers Film Festival and Yonkers Community Action Program’s holiday food pantry.
Empire City’s philanthropic initiatives support nonprofit organizations that provide direct services to residents in the surrounding communities where it operates and where its employees reside. To learn more, please visit Community Engagement – Empire City Casino. For more information on Empire City Casino by MGM Resorts, visit www.empirecitycasino.com.
