BUFFALO SABRES ALUMNI ASSOCIATION JOINS SENATOR BILL STACHOWSKI TO CALL FOR RAISING LIMITS ON PRIZES: Change In Law Would Mean More Charitable Contributions To Local Not-For-Profits

5/18/10

Hockey greats Larry Playfair, Rob Ray and Bobby Nystrom joined Senator Bill Stachowski (D, Lake View)  in Albany today to add their support to legislation (S.7801) introduced this week by Senator Stachowski  to allow the Sabres Alumni Association and other not-for-profits to increase their charitable contributions by raising the value of prizes that can be awarded.

“In these difficult economic times when charitable contributions are struggling overall it is essential that we provide great community organizations like the Sabres Alumni Association the tools they need to build on their great work,” said Senator  Stachowski.

In 2007, the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Association began conducting a 50/50 raffle at each Sabres home game.  The proceeds from the raffle are dedicated to offsetting the cost of operating Buffalo Junior Sabres, the Alumni Association scholarship program for youth, and providing donations to many regional not-for-profits including Roswell Park Research Institute and St Mary’s Hospital.  Since its inception, the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Association has raised over $600,000 that has been donated to local charities.

Current General Municipal Law states that a not-for-profit cannot award more than a total of $100,000 in prize money that it raises between all of its individual raffles over a set period of time.  However, due to their immense popularity, the Sabres Alumni Associations’ raffles regularly exceed this cumulative $100,000 prize amount.  The Stachowski bill would remove this prize cap and ultimately provide additional monies to charitable institutions located throughout Western New York and the entire state.

Assemblyman Sam Hoyt  (Buffalo) and Assemblywoman Jane Corwin (Clarence) are sponsoring the bill in the Assembly.

Passage of this legislation would allow the Alumni organization to take full advantage of the upcoming World Junior World Championship http://www.buffaloworldjuniors.com  scheduled to be in Buffalo from December 26 - January 5, 2011.