The mission of the Fraternal Order of Eagles is people helping people.  We donate a tremendous amount of money to charitable organizations not just locally but nationally.  We also donate to worthy causes in our community - scholarships, education, athletic teams, medical needs, 501(c)(3) organizations.  Many of these organizations would not be able to do the work they do without organizations such as ours.  These monies come not only from charitable gaming but other fundraising activities.  In recent years, charitable gaming has become a big part of how we fund our donations. 

I would hope that the requirement of donating proceeds of 40% would be capped at no more than 15-20%.  We would always have the option of donating more than the required amount. Limiting the organization to retaining only 10% of proceeds is not reasonable. There are costs associated with conducting the business of charitable gaming.  Buildings must be maintained and staff paid.  Machines must be maintained and monies removed, counted, deposited, and reports completed and submitted.   These tasks should not be performed by volunteers who are not bonded/insured.

Such regulated controls on how organizations can conduct business will severely limit how we can contribute to charities and make it hard or impossible to even operate our fraternal organizations.  If the organizations cannot survive, there will be none or few to regulate and many who benefit at this time will not be able to fund the needed services.

Please consider reducing the proposed 40% to a more reasonable amount and reducing the strict regulations on how business is conducted so that organizations can continue to exist and benefit charitable organizations and community needs.