Churchill Downs Partners with LEE Initiative for JCPS Family Meal Program
Louisville, KY (November 20, 2020) – The LEE Initiative in partnership with Churchill Downs announced last week its newest relief effort in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the hardships it has caused for families: a meal program. Family Meal is a collaborative effort between The LEE Initiative, Churchill Downs, Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), Louisville Metro, Audi and Humana, and will feed families who have children enrolled in JCPS.
“Reports are indicating that roughly 8 million Americans are slipping into poverty due to this crisis. We hope the entire city will join us in proving that Louisville can be a truly compassionate city and that we can create innovative solutions to the hunger issues that have become so rampant,” says Chef Edward Lee, co-founder and director of programming for The LEE Initiative. “This program is more than just feeding families; it is helping families avoid facing poverty.”
The LEE Initiative will hire 50 cooks who have been out of work due to the pandemic. These cooks will use the Churchill Downs Racetrack kitchen to prepare 8,000 boxed meals a week, with each box feeding a family of four. “We love working with The LEE Initiative to take the stigma out of getting a free meal and making sure families have a high-quality chef-prepared meal,” said Churchill Downs Racetrack Executive Chef David Danielson.
“We are very pleased with the success of the program so far,” Danielson added. “It has reignited our team, and we work to show the virtue of leadership with hospitality. While there is still much hard work to do and many problems to solve, nothing is possible without a seat at the table for all. Feeding people is in our hearts, and during this difficult time, it is uplifting to know we can help those in our community who are in need.”
All meals will come frozen with instructions to reheat in the oven or microwave. JCPS will handle distribution and make meals available on Tuesdays and Thursdays at their meal site pick locations. Further pickup details will be available through JCPS.
For more information on the relief efforts, please visit leeinitiative.org.
About Churchill Downs Incorporated
Churchill Downs Incorporated is an industry-leading racing, online wagering and gaming entertainment company anchored by our iconic flagship event, the Kentucky Derby. We also own and operate three pari-mutual gaming entertainment venues in Kentucky: Derby City Gaming; Oak Grove Racing, Gaming, and Hotel; and Newport Racing and Gaming. Our online wagering business owns and operates TwinSpires.com, the largest and most profitable online horse racing wagering platform in the U.S., and BetAmerica, an online sports betting and iGaming platform in the U.S. We are also a leader in brick-and-mortar casino gaming with approximately 11,000 slot machines and video lottery terminals and 200 table games in eight states. Additional information about CDI can be found online at www.churchilldownsincorporated.com.
Information set forth in this news release contains various “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”), which provides certain “safe harbor” provisions. All forward-looking statements made in this news release are made pursuant to the Act. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” and similar words, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently.
Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include the following: the effect of economic conditions on our consumers’ confidence and discretionary spending or our access to credit; additional or increased taxes and fees; public perceptions or lack of confidence in the integrity of our business or any deterioration in our reputation; loss of key or highly skilled personnel; restrictions in our debt facilities limiting our flexibility to operate our business; general risks related to real estate ownership, including fluctuations in market values and environmental regulations; catastrophic events and system failures disrupting our operations; online security risk, including cyber-security breaches; inability to recover under our insurance policies for damages sustained at our properties in the event of inclement weather and casualty events; increases in insurance costs and inability to obtain similar insurance coverage in the future; inability to identify and complete acquisition, expansion or divestiture projects, on time, on budget or as planned; difficulty in integrating recent or future acquisitions into our operations; costs and uncertainties relating to the development of new venues and expansion of existing facilities; risks associated with equity investments, strategic alliances and other third-party agreements; inability to respond to rapid technological changes in a timely manner; inadvertent infringement of the intellectual property of others; inability to protect our own intellectual property rights; payment-related risks, such as risk associated with fraudulent credit card and debit card use; compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or applicable money-laundering regulations; risks related to pending or future legal proceedings and other actions; inability to negotiate agreements with industry constituents, including horsemen and other racetracks; work stoppages and labor issues; changes in consumer preferences with respect to Churchill Downs Racetrack and the Kentucky Derby; personal injury litigation related to injuries occurring at our racetracks; weather and other conditions affecting our ability to conduct live racing; the occurrence of extraordinary events, such as terrorist attacks and public health threats, including the ongoing impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19 virus); changes in the regulatory environment of our racing operations; increased competition in the horseracing business; difficulty in attracting a sufficient number of horses and trainers for full field horseraces; our inability to utilize and provide totalizator services; changes in regulatory environment of our online horseracing business; number of people wagering on live horse races; increase in competition in our online horseracing; uncertainty and changes in the legal landscape relating to our online wagering business; continued legalization of online sports betting and iGaming in the United States and our ability to predict and capitalize on any such legalization; inability to expand our sports betting operations and effectively compete; failure to manage risks associated with sports betting; failure to comply with laws requiring us to block access to certain individuals could result in penalties or impairment with respect to our mobile and online wagering products; increased competition in our casino business; changes in regulatory environment of our casino business; and concentration and evolution of slot machine manufacturing and other technology conditions that could impose additional costs; and inability to collect gaming receivables from the customers to whom we extend credit.
Press Contacts
Nick Zangari
Vice President, Treasury, Investor
Relations & Risk Management
Phone: (502) 394-1157
Email: [email protected]
