Countywide : Charities Hit Jackpot With Bingo

It’s a Wednesday night, and the room is filled with gamblers crowded at long tables. Clouds of cigarette smoke drift toward the ceiling, and tension hangs in the air as players try to win a big jackpot.

The scene is the cafeteria at Canyon High School in Anaheim Hills, and the game is bingo.

Each week, about 300 people come to play bingo, daubing colored ink on their cards for a chance to win $250.

The game in Anaheim Hills has been operating for a year and raises money for booster clubs at the high school and at other schools that have recently begun helping out.

It is not the only game around, though. Bingo is big in Orange County, both for those who play it and those who use it to raise money.

Any night of the week, a bingo player has at least eight choices in the county. In addition to the churches, Elks and Moose lodges and boys’ clubs that offer bingo games, more than 20 county schools hold games each week.

And chances to play are growing. Last month, the Tustin Unified School District board approved bingo as a fund-raiser for Tustin and Foothill high schools. The games will be held in the Tustin High cafeteria and are expected to start this spring, said Dave Asher, a Foothill parent.

“We’re hoping to raise about $125,000 this first year,” Asher said. The schools will share the profits.

Bingo has grown in popularity as a fund-raiser in the last few years, said Bud Sudbeck, sales manager of Western Gift Distributors, a Brea company that provides organizations with bingo supplies.

“Lots of games have started in the last few years because of the need for extra money, particularly for the athletic programs,” Sudbeck said.

Those who run the games say they are effective moneymakers. During the last year, Canyon’s profit has been $100,000, said Sandy Ryan, bingo floor manager and a member of the Canyon booster club.

“Our kids don’t have to run around selling candy bars and light bulbs any more,” Ryan said.

For the players, the games offer recreation.

“I only play seven nights a week,” said Bee Leader of Tustin. “It keeps your mind off of your problems. When you’re here, you’re not thinking of anything else.

“It’s better than going out and chasing men. You couldn’t meet many nicer people. Nobody’s drunk here. Everybody’s sober and nice.”

Frances Nieto, a retired Spanish teacher who lives in Fullerton, plays every week and only at Canyon. “Besides my love for bingo, I think it’s a great moneymaker for the kids,” she said.

Ryan said it is important to make the games fun so people keep coming back. Canyon features complimentary coffee and popcorn, a nonsmoking section and a halftime game, Cash or Consequences, which resembles the TV show “Let’s Make a Deal.”

In Cash or Consequences, a player whose name is drawn at random chooses one of five boxes, which he can keep or sell back to game operators. Sometimes players end up with cash, sometimes they end up with a six pack of ink dobbers, the sponge-tip pens used to mark bingo cards.