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Market Wire
November 17, 2004 Wednesday
HEADLINE: Pokertropolis Promotes "Giving
Thanks" to Military Families in Need; VFW Foundation Program
Chosen for Online Site's Thanksgiving Day Donation Drive
BODY:
Pokertropolis (www.pokertropolis.com), the
popular online poker
room, is hosting a Thanksgiving Day donation and matching-funds
benefit to assist American soldiers and their families. During
the entire day of Thanksgiving, every dollar of registration fees
that 'the house' normally earns for hosting tournaments will be
donated to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation Program, Unmet
Needs (www.unmetneeds.com). Pokertropolis will also match funds
for players who wish to donate any of their Thanksgiving Day tournament
winnings to the Unmet Needs Program.
Jim Silvers, general manager of Pokertropolis,
said the online site chose a military-based program as the recipient
to this year's Thanksgiving Day fund raiser because of the hardship
that American soldiers and their families have endured during
the past year. "It's a privilege to know our poker communities
can take a role in easing the burden of military families in need.
It's especially important to be thinking of the soldiers -- who
are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice -- while those of us
not in the military are given the opportunity to be there for
our loved ones and family members."
Launched by the VFW Foundation in May 2004,
Unmet Needs addresses the financial hardships experienced by many
families of military men and women, focusing especially on the
National Guard and Reservists called away from their civilian
lives to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the Department
of Defense, the United States has over 700,000 military spouses
across the services
-- 93% of them women. Nearly half of those are married to enlisted
members who make less than $20,000 a year in basic pay. When Reservists
are included, these average yearly pay amounts reach alarming
lows and increase financial challenges for the soldiers' families.
The program's funding assists with unanticipated
demands on service members' families that can't be remedied in
a timely and efficient manner through existing means. The one-time
needs include emergency rent and mortgages to groceries and child
care.
John J. Senk, VFW adjunct general, states,
"With the help of Unmet Needs' corporate sponsor Vermont
American, and the donations of concerned companies like Pokertropolis,
the VFW and its Foundation will be able to help so many more of
our young servicemen and women and their dependents." R.
Lee Ermey, host of the History Channel's military series "Mail
Call," is Unmet Needs' spokesman.
Ermey, best known for his roles in "Full Metal Jacket"
and "Dead Man Walking,"
is a retired gunnery sergeant who was injured in Vietnam.
Pokertropolis will hold approximately nine
scheduled multi-table tournaments and an unlimited number of sit-and-go
tournaments on Thanksgiving Day from midnight through 1 a.m. EST
on November 26.
About Pokertropolis
Pokertropolis is a premier online gaming website
with headquarters based in Costa Rica. The company can be contacted
at Pokertropolis, 50 metros Oeste de la Contraloria, Edificio
de la Colmena, Piso#4, Sabana Sur, Costa Rica. Phone: US 800.625.8354.
www.pokertropolis.com
About Unmet Needs
Unmet Needs is one of several programs under
the Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation including Operation Uplink.
The VFW Foundation is committed to improving the lives of veterans
and military service personnel, their families and communities.
www.vfw.org, foundation@vfw.org
Contact:
Crystal Haidl
Terpin Communications Group
crystal@terpin.com(310) 8216100 x117
SOURCE: Pokertropolis
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