Employees of Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort help pack food boxes for Angel’s Depot, which distributes them to low-income seniors.

Tor the past several months, Angel’s Depot in Vista has been providing packed food boxes to hundreds of low-income seniors. Each 22-pound box contains enough ingredients to feed a senior breakfast, lunch and dinner for seven to 10 days. Susan Hall, the 59-year-old executive director, calls her clients “Our quiet heroes, a proud generation who suffer in silence.”

Hall says 50,000 seniors live at or below the poverty level in the county, a population she set out to help in 2005 when she approached officials from Harrah’s Rincon Casino & Resort in Valley Center to seek financing to help launch the agency. “I knew they supported organizations that provided help for seniors because many of their clients are seniors,” says Hall. “I asked them if they were interested in being a founding sponsor.”

The casino, which is owned by the Rincon San Luiseño Band of Mission Indians, is chiefly responsible for Angel’s Depot’s success in feeding poor seniors, says Hall. Janet Beronio, senior vice president and general manager of Harrah’s Rincon, sits on the agency’s board of directors. Tribal Chairman Vernon Wright is an honorary director.

As a founding sponsor, the casino and Harrah’s Foundation committed $80,000. Casino employees were encouraged by management to volunteer their time to help pack the food boxes and to assist in other Angel’s Depot projects. Last year, 478 of the 1,600 employees did so, chalking up more than 3,500 hours. “They are the fastest, most efficient volunteers I have ever seen in my life,” says Hall, a career fund raiser for nonprofit causes.

The Rincon tribe’s generosity isn’t limited to Angel’s Depot. Like many of the other nine Indian gaming tribes in the county, it has spread a considerable amount of its gambling wealth — in dollars and in-kind assistance — to a variety of charitable causes. The gaming tribes’ largesse amounts to millions of dollars each year out of the estimated $1.5 billion to $2 billion they collect annually from their casinos and other business entities.

“It’s good for business,” says Bob Kelly, president and CEO of The San Diego Foundation. “As the tribes mature, they realize they owe it to the community, their customers and their employees. Making charitable contributions is good for brand identification. It opens up all sorts of doors on your business side. It’s also the right thing to do. Almost every strong company has a strong charitable program.”

Last year, Harrah’s Rincon funneled $343,719 in cash and in-kind contributions to several nonprofit groups. So far this year, $323,269 has been donated. From the time the casino opened in 2002 to the end of last year, Harrah’s Rincon has given more than $1 million to charity, says Beronio. Some of the benefiting organizations are the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the Elizabeth Hospice, San Diego Blood Bank and the Asian Film Foundation.

“We’re part of the community and we want to be good citizens,” says Beronio, who has personally packed food boxes for Angel’s Depot. “We also want to provide opportunities for our employees to contribute. When we look at an organization (seeking funds), if there are volunteer opportunities there, we consider them very strongly.”

Robert Scheid, spokesman for the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, owner of Viejas Casino and Outlet Center in Alpine, says the tribe fields between 200 and 300 charitable requests each month. Hundreds of local community groups, schools and service and civic organizations as well as charity events sponsored by other commercial businesses are the recipients of its money, in-kind gifts and staff volunteer hours. The support comes directly from the Viejas Tribal Council and its business enterprises — the casino, outlet center, Borrego Springs Bank and two recreational vehicle parks. Last year, the tribe’s contributions totaled $2.2 million.

“Viejas once was the biggest recipient of charity in San Diego County,” says Scheid, referring to the assistance tribal members used to receive from the old San Diego Food Bank. “It has now become one of the biggest providers of charity and community support in the county.”

The tribe doesn’t limit itself to cash contributions, Scheid says. During the Cedar fire in 2003, it invited the setup of a firefighter encampment on the reservation. The casino was closed but the staff was kept on to cook for the firefighters. “During the Horse fire in July 2006, Viejas provided some reservation land and facilities to establish a base camp for fire crews from across the country,” says Scheid. “Viejas provided food, shelter and other facilities and its firefighters and tribal members joined fire crews battling the blaze.”

Randolph Baker, chair of the Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming at San Diego State University, says several gaming tribes regularly go to the airwaves to ensure the public is aware of their charitable contributions and community enhancement efforts as well as the positive economic impact their casinos provide. It’s a strategy, he says, to counter a possible upwelling of negative sentiment toward Native American gaming and potential legislative challenges to their “privileged position.”

“But many tribes have a sense of obligation to share,” Baker adds, “and they do that beautifully.”

The Sycuan Casino & Resort in rural El Cajon, owned by one of the richest tribes in California, annually contributes more than $3 million to charitable organizations and causes and another $1.5 million in in-kind donations, says Adam Day, assistant tribal manager for the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation. The tribe also assists with fund raisers such as the Teddy Bear Drive for Children’s Hospital and helps organize team walks like the Relay for Life with the American Cancer Society.

“We receive over 200 requests per month at the tribe and casino,” says Day, “and it continues to rise.”

The East County Boys and Girls Club has been receiving Sycuan’s support for the past seven or eight years, says CEO Jerry Fazio. Last year the tribe contributed $20,000. It is the major sponsor of the club’s annual golf tournament, which is held every July at the resort. Fazio says the event raises between $75,000 and $85,000 each year. “They have been awesome,” he says of Sycuan. “They’re very generous with us.”

Thirty organizations in the county have received cash, sponsorships or donated goods and services from the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians, owners of Valley View Casino in Valley Center. This year it sponsored the first Matt Vasgersian Charity Texas Hold ’em Tournament at the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park.

Joe Navarro, president and CEO of the San Pasqual Casino Development Corp., estimates that the tribe has contributed about $1 million to charity since the casino’s opening in 2001. Requests for aid come at a rate of three to five a week. “We’re smaller than some of the other casinos in the county so we can’t be as philanthropic as the others,” says Navarro. “But we like to help out in any way we can.”

In Lakeside, the Barona Band of Mission Indians contributed more than $2.5 million in 2006 to 600 charities and causes. The tribe owns the Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino. “The tribe has a strong tradition of sharing with the community,” says tribal councilwoman Beth Glasco. “We believe every request we receive from a charity or other nonprofit organization is worthy of consideration.” Councilman Adam Reyes says the tribe receives more than 1,000 donation requests a month.

Baker and Day are to be panelists at a Sept. 18 program on the public relations challenges facing tribes with casinos. The luncheon at the Napa Valley Grille in Horton Plaza — sponsored by the San Diego chapter of the Public Relations Society of America — will consider Baker’s assertion that the gaming tribes could become victims of a backlash from the public if they don’t share their wealth. “It’s just smart public policy for wealthy Indian nations to do that,” he says.

Native American philanthropy in the county has risen so fast in such a short amount of time that The San Diego Foundation’s Kelly cannot think of any other industry with such a record. “There’s no real comparison to what the Indians have done,” he says. “And it’s just the beginning. I see nothing but growth in the future.”