Bingo Capital Investments to be Proposed

The officers met and we have planned some capital investments to be made over the coming months for bingo operations.

As you know, bingo provides the majority of our income and allows us to fund our charitable activities. We do not take these expenditures lightly. When we opened for bingo last year we had to spend around $20,000 to purchase the new bingo machine. We had no choice. We leased new electronic game consoles because the ones we had no longer worked. At the time we also identified and expressed our concern about the age and operability of the bingo flashboards that are permanently mounted on the walls of the parish hall and knew there was a risk of failure. If these boards fail, we would not be able to operate bingo until they were replaced. We wanted to take a measure of bingo’s success before we recommend additional expenditures. I am pleased to report that bingo is going very well.

The flashboards had been performing OK and last month our council voted to purchase TVs and related wiring to improve the experience of our patrons by being able to display the ball camera and also provide a backup for the flashboards should one fail.

Since that approval, the flashboards have begun to fail. Both boards have lights that will not work even when bulbs are replaced. The far board has two rows on the pattern display that do not turn off. That being said, they are useable for now but we have major concerns they will continue to get worse and fixing them is not really an option.

We are going to recommend to the council at the business meeting that we vote to approve the purchase of a new Maxflash display computer and related video monitors to replace the flashboards for a cost of around $7000(numbers to be firmed before the meeting). It also requires about a $ 500-a-year maintenance charge. We believe that this expenditure is necessary. The flashboards will enhance the bingo experience for the customers. There may also be an advertising fee opportunity for us to display ads for local businesses that may help offset the cost a little.

One other item we identified is that when crowds are above 120 people, we really do not have enough tables and chairs. We have borrowed tables and chairs from other churches in the past but this becomes a coordination and timing problem. We would like to purchase additional tables and chairs. These need to be of high quality because they should be meant to last. They will be moved around a lot and have the potential to be used by other organizations when they are stored in the parish center. This will cost around $4,500. We are not asking for this right now but we want you to be aware that we will be asking for this in the fall time frame.

We wanted to get this information to you so that you are informed about what our plans are and the significant money that will be invested if approved. The discussion will be held in our business meeting. We believe that these investments will pay dividends by improving the experiences of our players and allow us to continue to generate the funds that allow us to fulfill our mission of charity.