Local celebrities had the rare opportunity of reaching out to the less privileged after bagging the plum prize during three “Celebrity Slots for Charity Challenge” tournaments recently staged by Casino Filipino at the Madison Arcade, Lancaster Hotel Manila and Ronquillo Arcade.

Southborder band’s former lead vocalist Duncan Ramos, socialite Tessa Prieto-Valdes and 80’s Jukebox Diva Eva Eugenio were among the lucky celebrities who were able to help a charitable institution of their choice after they won in the “Celebrity Slots for Charity Challenge”. Each of them won a cash prize of P50,000 plus a cash incentive of P100,000 for their donation to their chosen charitable institutions.

Ramos donated his prize to “Project: Brave Kids”, an institution that provides medical assistance to indigent children afflicted with cancer. Meantime Valdes selected the Philippine Red Cross Makati Chapter as recipient of her slot machine tournament prize.

“I’ve always been a supporter of the Philippine Red Cross, so I never had second thoughts about picking it as my beneficiary when I won in the slot machine celebrity challenge. I hope PAGCOR and Casino Filipino can do such a fun event again so more people and institutions could benefit from it,” Valdes said.

Ramos meanwhile said he felt a great sense of fulfillment for being able to contribute to the noble effort of “Project: Brave Kids” to help children who cannot afford the costly treatment of cancer. “It’s not every day that you can play to enjoy and give help at the same time, so the experience of winning for my chosen institution was very special. I picked Project: Brave Kids as my beneficiary because my heart has a soft spot for children and I am also a father. I hope the little help I gave them will go a long way in assisting more poor kids afflicted with cancer.”

Project: Brave Kids’ co-founder Sigrid Perez said the cash donated by Ramos through PAGCOR and Casino Filipino will be used to fund the chemotherapy sessions of children whose parents could hardly spend for their child’s treatments. “We know how expensive chemotherapy is, so we would like to thank Duncan for choosing us as his beneficiary. With his donation, we will be able to help more poor sick children.”

Meantime, Eva Eugenio chose the Golden Acres Home for the Aged as the beneficiary of the P100,000 donation from PAGCOR and Casino Filipino. “All of us will grow old, that’s the reason why I chose Golden Acres. I want to share my blessings to the less fortunate senior citizens so that they may enjoy the remaining time they have,” she explained.

The jukebox diva shared that while she has been regularly performing in several Casino Filipino branches, the “Celebrity Slots for Charity Challenge” was the only time she was invited as a player. “This is the first time that I actually played in the casino. I am really happy that I became lucky on my first try and was able to help the homeless elderly,” Eugenio said.

The Casino Filipino “Celebrity Slots for Charity Challenge” was conceptualized by PAGCOR’s Entertainment Department Assistant VP Bong Quintana. “When we thought of this event in July last year, our goal was to provide our celebrities a venue where they can help their chosen charities. The response we got the first time we held it at Airport Casino Filipino was simply overwhelming. The success of that event encouraged us to do more tournaments,” he added.

According to Quintana, celebrities are very eager to join because the event is a good opportunity for them to have fun while having the chance to help the less fortunate. “All of our invited celebrity participants are supporters of several charitable institutions. They also believe in our corporation’s mission to touch the lives of the less privileged. That is our twin goals in having this kind of event – to entertain our customers and to allow our invited celebrities to help,” he said.

Other “Celebrity Slots for Charity Challenge” events are scheduled on March 22, 2013 at Casino Filipino Heritage and on May 30, 2013 at Casino Filipino Hyatt Manila.

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