Community Day at Colonial Downs Features Giving Back
$159,500 to be Donated to Charitable Organizations – Checks Presented after each Race
Richmond, VA – August 11, 2021 – Colonial Downs Group is hosting Community Day today, Wednesday, August 11. Community groups from New Kent, Richmond, Hampton & Dumfries will be at the track in New Kent enjoying a relaxed and fun afternoon of thoroughbred horse racing and community giving. Checks will be presented to individual charitable organizations following each of eight races on the card – totaling 28 checks and $159,500! Recipients range from Virginia Community Food Connections (Dumfries) to the New Kent County Community Foundation, from the Youth Aeronautics Education Foundation (Hampton) to the Virginia Veterans Services Foundation.
Acting Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs Kathleen Jabs will be on hand for the Virginia Veterans Services Foundation check presentation. Jabs stated, “We appreciate all efforts in the Commonwealth to recognize and honor our veterans and their families. They have given so much for us and it is heartwarming to see others give back to them.”
Aaron Gomes, chief operating officer of Colonial Downs Group, stated, “We are extremely fortunate to be operating Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums® in communities across Virginia. Giving back and helping those communities is at the core of our operational philosophy. We truly believe that sharing our resources and time adds value to the communities in which we live and operate.”
Community Day is in addition to the ongoing Rosie’s Gives Back program. Colonial Downs Group has made monetary and in-kind donations of more than $1.34 million and has logged over 1,100 service hours in Virginia communities through its Rosie’s Gives Back program.
About Colonial Downs: Colonial Downs Group is a proud business operator in Virginia employing more than 1,000 team members in the Commonwealth, paying over $30 million in annual salaries, wages, and benefits. Rosie’s Gaming Emporiums® in Richmond, Hampton, New Kent, Vinton, and Dumfries offer innovative historic horseracing (HHR) gaming technology and full card simulcasting. Colonial Downs Group also recently opened a Rosie’s Game Room in Collinsville. Colonial Downs racetrack in New Kent County hosts live thoroughbred racing on two nationally renowned surfaces – Secretariat Turf Course, the widest turf course in North America at 180 feet wide and on a 1 1/4 mile dirt track, second in length to only the world-famous Belmont Park. Colonial Downs Group has made a $300 million investment in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The company pays more than $32 million in annual state and local taxes plus an additional $12 million in racing industry payments annually.