The loss of gaming money for all sorts of community groups, from service clubs to arts and environmental organizations, will have a devastating impact.

That's what Burns Bog Conservation Society president Eliza Olson had to say about the loss of provincial government grants organizations had depended on for years to provide services.

Olson, whose society is about to lose $30,000 in gaming money, equaling about 15 per cent of its budget, was recently named to the board of the B.C. Association for Charitable Gaming, which represents about 1,000 non-profit community service organizations.

She was on hand with others in the association at a rally last Thursday on the steps of city hall in Vancouver, calling on council not to approve an application for a proposed casino until the province restores the 33 per cent share of gaming revenues that had been promised in a memorandum of agreement signed a decade ago.

The association, noting gaming revenues have continued to increase while charities have been shortchanged, issued an open letter to Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman, the minister also responsible for gaming. It states B.C. charities actively supported and enabled the expansion of gambling, mistakenly believing it would bring them a share of the proceeds.

Earlier this year Coleman announced that arts, culture and sports groups for adults, along with environmental organizations, wouldn't receive any grant money from the B.C. government. Only a few organizations will continue to receive funding, such as search and rescue groups or volunteer fire departments. The province said it's allocating $120 million for gaming grants in 2010/11.

Olson told the Optimist as far Delta is concerned, every service club, including the Rotary, Lions and Elks, the Delta Arts Council as well as every other non-profit that received gaming funds is affected.

The non-profits in Delta are at an even greater risk than those in Richmond, Surrey or Vancouver because this municipality does not receive any gaming funds from casinos, she said.

"We used to get funding for education and International Bog Day ... I don't know how we can do that now because we don't even get financial support from Delta," said Olson.

"The government has given preference to farming associations and I don't have a problem with that, but what about the rest of us? It is not just the arts people who are going to be impacted, it's huge," she said.

Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (OWL) executive director Bev Day said it's been a struggle for her organization, which is only staying afloat thanks to student fundraisers and donations from the community, including a bequeathment.

Day said it's ridiculous her group gets referrals from the government to rescue injured birds of prey but gets no support for the valuable service.

"They phone us at all hours of the day and night on their emergency numbers and they connect us to the people making the call, yet those government people are paid union wages for being there taking these sorts of calls. It's ludicrous," Day said.

Another Delta group that had gone public with its funding crisis due to the loss of gaming money was the Delta Arts Council. Delta has stepped in to provide some funding for the arts council, which was still forced to make a number of staff cuts, provided certain conditions on how the group operates are met.

Saying the government has broken its social contract on gaming, Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington noted the only reason the public initially supported gambling expansion was the promise that one-third of the revenue would go to community non-profits that provide public services.

"It's yet another lie to the public and it's completely inappropriate. I don't want government controlled gaming in this province under false pretenses. Government sponsored gaming is corrupting government, a corruption sponsored by government," she said.

Coleman's ministry issued a statement last year regarding gaming grants, noting the government is facing unprecedented economic times that require some difficult decisions. As a result, government undertook a review of "discretionary grants" to ensure core services and priorities remained funded.