The house always wins, the saying goes. But this weekend, the house will share its spoils with special needs children in the area.

Cayuga Home for Children will hold its second annual casino night Saturday to raise money for the organization. The event will feature various games of chance and prize opportunities for those who attend, with the proceeds going toward the home as it heads into what looks to be a tough financial time.

Cayuga Home Chief Executive Officer Edward Myers Hayes said this week that the event will be similar in a lot of ways to last year's. But the experience will help the volunteers run a tighter ship this time around, Hayes said.

“I think the biggest difference is that we know what we're doing more this time,” he said.

The casino night will feature blackjack, roulette, beat the dealer, pull tabs and other card and wheel games. There will also be drawings through the evening for a big-screen television and vouchers for plane tickets.

The entrance fee will also include a sandwich, two drinks, two raffle tickets and $5 in chips.

Approximately 80 Cayuga Home staff members will volunteer as servers and dealers, or to fill other behind-the-scenes needs, Hayes said.

“We just have an incredible level of staff support for this,” he said. “These people go above and beyond.”

Last year, the event raised $14,000 that went to recreational equipment, Hayes said. This year, the target is $25,000.

As long as the casino night remains successful, he continued, it will remain an annual event. The center even built its own tables and equipment so that it won't have to spend thousands of dollars each year in rentals.

“We expect this to be our biggest fundraiser every year,” Hayes said.

Founded in 1852, the Cayuga Home for Children offers treatment, counseling and other programs to families and youth in Auburn - its headquarters site - as well as New York City, Rochester and Seneca Falls.

Much of the center's funds come from the state. As the state government looks to cut future budgets in the wake of an economic downturn, events like these become more important, Hayes said.

“It's a grim time for human services in the state,” Hayes said.

Unfortunately, he continued, these are the times when such services are more important than ever because families suffer when people lose jobs.

“Having people unemployed and under-employed never creates healthy family dynamics,” Hayes said.

Christopher Caskey

253-5311 ext. 282

christopher.caskey@lee.net