Derby City Gaming Celebrates Two Years of Sandefur Dining Room Partnership

LOUISVILLE, KY.,(March 4, 2021) -- Churchill Downs Incorporated property Derby City Gaming is proud to be celebrating two years of service to The Sandefur Dining Room and $75,000 in financial support. The historical racing machine facility has developed a strong relationship with the Louisville nonprofit and regularly coordinates employee volunteering in addition to their aforementioned partnership.

'Food insecurity and homelessness has been part of Derby City Gaming's community focus since we opened in September of 2018,' says Derby City Gaming President and General Manager Tim Bryant. 'Being a sponsor of Let's Dance Louisville in 2019 helped introduce us to the Sandefur Dining Room. We saw firsthand the good work that they do and how thankful those who were provided meals were. Ever since then, our Food & Beverage Team has made a commitment to prepare and participate in distributing free meals every month. The level of homelessness and number of people experiencing food insecurity is alarming, and the Derby City Gaming team takes pride in volunteering and providing meals through Sandefur Dining Room.'

In the wake of their most difficult year to date, Sandefur Dining Room discussed the increased hardships they faced during the pandemic and offered their gratitude to Derby City Gaming for their continued support through a challenging year:

Without a doubt, COVID-19 upended all of our lives. During this time, not only were the less fortunate families and individuals affected, but so were the organizations they turn to for assistance. With donations and volunteers on the decline, who was going to help those who help others? This is a story about the people, an outreach program and a community that had the odds against them, and how Derby City Gaming came to their aid.

Let's start at the beginning. A staple in the community, The Sandefur Dining Room of the Cathedral of the Assumption began responding to the needs of the hungry in Downtown Louisville during the Great Depression. Today, they have a broader outreach program, Feed My Neighbor. They believe feeding the hungry is not only core to the community, but it makes Louisville a better place to live.

Before COVID-19, they were able to serve hot lunches daily in The Sandefur Dining Room through the help of an army of volunteers. Guests were permitted to come in and sit down, out of the elements to eat their lunch. All that has changed.

Since the start of COVID-19, volunteers are down because most of them are elderly, retired and in the compromised category. On top of that, Feed My Neighbor had to make adjustments to how they served meals. Instead of hot meals in the dining room, people now receive packaged food in a lunch bag. To prepare them, volunteers are required to wear gloves and masks as well as perform daily cleaning tasks. All of these safety precautions come at an additional cost.

To make matters worse, funding is down because their largest annual fundraiser, Let's Dance Louisville, had to be canceled and will most likely be canceled in 2021. Much like the people they serve, Feed My Neighbor needed someone to take a chance on them. That's where Derby City Gaming came to their aid.

In 2020, Derby City Gaming agreed to be the Presenting Sponsor with a $60,000 donation. The impact of their generous support enabled Feed My Neighbor to continue serving 3,300 meals a month to some of downtown Louisville's most vulnerable.

'This donation is what is keeping our kitchen open. Feed My Neighbor is so lucky to have Derby City Gaming as our partner.' said Maggie Cyphers of Feed My Neighbor. The Director of the Lunch Program, Paul Tadatada, also added, 'Derby City Gaming's staff has brought a full turkey dinner, shepherds pie, and lasagna, among other things. They always smile and have fun while down here. We're grateful for everything they do for the kitchen!'

In these tough times, it's good to know that services like Feed My Neighbor and Louisville's homeless can depend on valuable partners like Derby City Gaming to give a helping hand when they need it most. -- David Grantz

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