Earlier this month, the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs received a generous donation

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) - After raising money through charitable gambling, the Charles McLaughlin VFW Post 906 in Hutchinson collected about $100,000 to help veterans in the region.

After a full year of collecting donations, more than $80,000 was sent to the MDVA for eight different state veteran houses.

“That’s the most we have ever donated for the state VFW - that is probably the largest donation we have given, coming from a single post,” said VFW Charitable Gambling Manager, Doug Johnson.

“When I first heard about the $80,000, I thought it was from the state VFW, but no, it was from Hutchinson. I think that that just shows the dedication that Minnesotans and in particularly in the Hutchinson area have for veterans here in the state,” said Deputy Commissioner, Douglas Hughes.

The full donation will be split leaving $10,000 for the targeted state veteran homes.

“With donations of this size, we would like to look for a project where we can actually give credit to the organization,” explained Hughes.

Five state veterans homes will use the funds for upgrading resident programming and activities.

Three future homes that will be open later this year will use the funding to buy TVs for residents’ bedrooms.

The Hutchinson V-F-W says the other $20,000 will go towards two veteran hospitals in Minnesota and South Dakota. The organization encourages anyone to come in and participate in charitable gambling- its main way of raising funds.

“Come on in and support our posts. Play some pull tabs, do a meet raffle, and do the gambling games that we have here. That is really how we make this money,” said Johnson.

Copyright 2023 KEYC. All rights reserved.