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United Way’s Kids & Cops Program Receives $45,000 Grant from MGM Resorts Foundation

Kids & Cops, a program of United Way of Southern Nevada, was awarded a $45,000 grant from the MGM Resorts Foundation, the employee charitable giving program for MGM Resorts. The grant will be used to supply law enforcement officials with Walmart vouchers to help children in need. This year, the program will be expanded to include the Henderson Police Department.

Kids & Cops enables officers to assist children from low-income families by providing them with $5 McDonald’s and $25 Walmart vouchers for the purchase of basic necessities such as a hot meal, clothing, backpacks, school supplies and hygiene items. United Way’s Kids & Cops partners with three southern Nevada police departments, including North Las Vegas, Henderson and Metro.

“This generous grant allows us to expand the good being done every day by our Kids & Cops program,” said Dan Goulet, United Way president and CEO. “Kids & Cops helps build healthy relationships between law enforcement and vulnerable children by providing them with necessities during crisis situations.”

“MGM Resorts Foundation employees are proud to support a program that assists children in the community and advances the common good,” said Jocelyn Bluitt-Fisher, director of corporate philanthropy and community affairs for MGM Resorts International. “Because of Kids & Cops program, there are instances every day when members of law enforcement are able to meet the immediate needs of children in distress.”

In 2003, the program was conceptualized by United Way of Southern Nevada President and CEO, Dan Goulet and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department’s former Sheriff Bill Young to create a positive relationship between local communities and law enforcement officials and to provide immediate assistance to children in need. In 2010 alone, more than 2,000 children have shared a moment of happiness with a law enforcement officer because of Kids & Cops.

The MGM Resorts Foundation empowers the 62,000 employees of MGM Resorts to direct their contributions to any qualified nonprofit agency that they choose. The Company pays all administrative costs for the foundation’s operations, so that the entire amount of employee donations can be invested in the recipients of these contributions. Since its inception in 2002, MGM Resorts has disbursed more than $38 million in employee donations.

About United Way of Southern Nevada
United Way collaborates with volunteers, stakeholders and community leaders to uncover key strategies designed to develop community-based solutions to our community’s most pressing health and human service issues. Beyond quick fixes, these strategies are delivering lasting solutions, aligned with benchmarks and achievement standards, to change community conditions. For more information about southern Nevada’s most pressing needs and how United Way’s Community-based Agenda is improving lives, call 702-734-2273 or visit www.uwsn.org.