Free Clinic adds Bingo as income source

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

Faced with a drastic decline in grants and donations, more and more nonprofit service agencies are seeking alternative funding. The C. Brock Hughes Free Clinic Inc. is counting on Saturday night Bingo games to bring in much-needed revenue.
“In the long run, we think it will be very beneficial,” said Karen Brooks, the clinic’s executive director. “We’re just getting started but I think it will give us a source for a steady income, which we’ve never had before.”
After more than a year of planning and licensing, the clinic’s Bingo games began in late spring. They are held every Saturday evening in the rear building of Ms. Gerta’s House of Music on East Lee Highway.
According to David Blair, owner of the property, he had been seeking a worthy nonprofit agency to use the building for fundraising for three years. Through a friend in the Wytheville Rotary Club, Blair learned the Free Clinic might be interested.
“I think the Free Clinic does a lot of good for the community,” Blair said Friday morning. “It seemed like a perfect fit. It was a good place to start.”
He had the space. He had a Bingo machine.
“It took us about a year to get the license,” Brooks pointed out. “Once our board of directors approved it, we had to go to the state gaming commission for a license to operate the Bingo games. There are a lot of regulations involved.”
When the games began, the number of players ranged from 30 to 40. The average has increased to 60 players.
“We see 10 to 15 new faces each night,” Brooks reported. “It’s not just the people you expect to play. We’re seeing young people playing. We had a young couple playing last week. Children can play, too, if they’re with a parent.”
Early Bird Games begin at 5 p.m. A package of cards for these five games cost $10.
A package of cards for 16 regular games cost $15 each.
The number of players, Brooks said, determines the amount of money in the jackpot. According to her, two jackpots of $500 are guaranteed each play night.
Drawings for door prizes also are included every Saturday night. Food and soft drinks are sold, too.
Frank Johnson and his daughter, Amy, volunteer as callers for the games. They use Blair’s air-powered machine, which pops the numbered balls into the call space.
“We can use more volunteers on Saturday night,” Brooks stated. “They check the cards and do various other things to help.”
The Free Clinic receives any profits from the night’s play. It will eventually pay a lease fee on the building.
“The time we began was not the best,” Brooks added. “Everybody tells us the fall and winter are better times. We are expecting to see growth.”
The games, Brooks said, come at a time when funding has dwindled. She is hopeful they will make up for some of the lost revenue.
“I think our donations are down because people heard we’d gotten the grant from the Wythe-Bland Community Foundation,” Brooks stated. “We did get the grant and we’re very grateful. But the grant does not cover everything.”
As a Wythe County United Way agency, the Free Clinic can’t be sure how much money it will receive each year. Its portion depends on the amount the United Way collects from pledges, which have declined.
“We’ve heard a lot about health care reforms,” she added, “but nothing’s known yet. We want to make sure we’re funded until the health reforms are decided. We average four to six walk-ins at the clinic every day, in addition to the number of patients who have appointments.”
She pointed out Wythe County Community Hospital contributed $260,000 worth of in-kind services to the Free Clinic last year. This included X-rays, lab work and other technical support.
“We appreciate what the hospital does,” Brooks stated. “The hospital continues to help us meet the demand.”
The Free Clinic is located inside Edgemont Center at 100 Edgemont Road in Wytheville. It is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information, call 223-0558.
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or .