SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Florin Road Bingo has been a staple in the South Sacramento community for decades, but now thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, its doors are closing permanently.
For more than 40 years, Florin Road Bing has been the home of winning and not just the $500 limit.
"Well over $50 million has gone to charity in that time," said Larry Goodale, the project's manager for Florin Road Bingo, also known as Sacramento Consolidated Charities.
It all started with raising money for Goodale's high school band.
"It let them tour nationally," he said.
Because of that success, other groups got quite a bit of help too.
"Luther Burbank High School had scholarships. We did money to some of the teachers in the schools around the area. When the little league lost their equipment a few years back, we gave donations to take care of that," he said.
Goodale volunteered here in high school and came back to work later on as an adult. Now, 25 years later, he's still here, making a heart-wrenching decision.
"I wish we could find a way to survive it, but we've done everything we could," he said.
Aside from a brief, two-week window in June before numbers spiked again, they've been temporarily closed for more than six months because of the pandemic.
"Literally the savings account we had to take care of surviving something like this is depleted," he said.
But as bills continue to pile up and no clear date of when it will be safe enough to reopen, this charitable bingo hall is choosing to permanently close their doors.
"We're going to miss everybody, all the charities, all the volunteers, definitely all of the players," he said.
From the neons to the bingo machine, everything inside will be sold to help pay off outstanding bills and Goodale says the rest will go back to some of the same charities that have always been there for them.
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