The Notes: Philanthropy, Oct. 4-10

Matt Smith, founder of Matt Smith Physical Therapy, serves on the Latin Chamber of Commerce Foundation Board, which helps further the education of Las Vegas-area youths through scholarships.

Blue Man Group Las Vegas raised more than $11,500 for the Grant A Gift Autism Foundation.

Towbin Dodge hosted an animal adoption drive with the Nevada SPCA that raised $2,000 for the charity and helped find homes for dogs.

MGM Resorts International, Boyd Gaming and Station Casinos will donate $2.5 million toward construction of Hospitality Hall, a new academic building for the Harrah Hotel College.

Opportunity Village broke ground on Sean’s Park at the organization’s Ralph and Betty Engelstad Campus, 6050 S. Buffalo Drive, Las Vegas. The first of its kind in the United States, the 2.5-acre project will offer a life-learning park for children and adults with intellectual and physical disabilities. Work is expected to be finished in the spring.

Station Casinos donated more than $100,000 toward the development of a building for Southern Nevada Children First, a nonprofit that helps Nevada’s homeless pregnant and parenting youths and young adults. Grand Canyon Development Partners is handling the construction at no charge. The facility will be at 3755 W. Lake Mead Blvd., North Las Vegas.

Nellis Air Force Base airmen teamed with Spread the Word Nevada to provide more than 1,400 books to Lois Craig Elementary School. Each student received a backpack and two books.

The Nellis Area Spouses’ Club donated $10,000 in commissary and exchange gift cards to Creech and Nellis airmen and their families in honor of Memorial Day.

WSOP.com hosted the second annual Battle of the News charity poker tournament during the 2015 World Series of Poker. Shawn Tempesta from ABC’s “The Morning Blend” won first place and split his prize money, with $2,000 going to the International Rett Syndrome Foundation and $1,000 going to the Healing NET Foundation on behalf of Fox 5’s Jon Castagnino. Christine Maddela of Fox 5 placed second, with $2,000 going to the Geoff Morris Gray House Scholarship Fund. Vicki Gonzalez of KSNV News 3 won $1,000 for Safe Nest.

Tracy DiFillippo of Armstrong Teasdale, Tom Edington of Nevada State Bank, Leslie Maple of Barrick Gold Corp. and Jennifer Oswald of NV Energy joined the Communities In Schools of Nevada board of directors.

McDonald’s donated $13,621 to the Injured Police Officers Fund.

Three Square Food Bank, in partnership with the National Council on Aging joined a nationwide effort to help older adults access the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that only two of five seniors who are eligible for SNAP are enrolled in the program.

Machine Guns Vegas is partnering with Wishes For Warriors, which helps disabled veterans, to serve as the official Nevada chapter to support local veterans. Machine Guns Vegas plans to conduct several events, including an annual gala and firepower demonstrations, to raise money for Wishes for Warriors Nevada.

Chase Bank and Building Homes for Heroes donated a home to a veteran and his family.

The American Cancer Society launched a Las Vegas Leadership Board made up of NOVA Group Director of Marketing Rick Campbell, Dr. Souzan El-Eid, attorney Charles Gianelloni, City National Bank Vice President Branch Manager Stacey Martini, Dignity Health - St. Rose Dominican Communications and Public Policy Director Katie Ryan, Henderson Chamber of Commerce Foundation Manager Bill Bokelmann and Vegas PBS public relations consultant Jennifer Bradley.

Centennial Hyundai and Planet Hyundai donated $50,000 toward the Alyn Beck and Igor Soldo Memorial Scholarship Fund. Ten students will receive $5,000 scholarships based on their grades, community involvement and scholarship application essay. Beck and Soldo were Las Vegas Metro Police officers who were ambushed and killed while eating lunch.

HomeAid Southern Nevada helped Project 150 provide more than 600 backpacks filled with school supplies and hygiene items to homeless, displaced and disadvantaged high school students.

Chef Kim Canteenwalla and Elizabeth Blau, who help oversee Buddy V’s Ristorante, Honey Salt, Made L.V. and Andiron Steak & Sea, raised more than $10,000 for Three Square during Restaurant Week. The money provided more than 30,000 meals. CenturyLink donated $232,000 to the nonprofit. The money came from CenturyLink’s Backpack Buddies Food Drive and a matching donation from the Clarke M. Williams Foundation.

Rebuilding Together Southern Nevada helped renovate the Transition Services Inc. facility at 6100 W. Cheyenne Ave., Las Vegas. The renovation was made possible by HGTV’s “Brother vs. Brother.” The Property Brothers, Jonathan and Drew Scott, went head-to-head to see who could most successfully renovate and resell a Las Vegas fixer-upper. The sale of both brothers’ renovated homes yielded a profit of $88,888, which was donated to Rebuilding Together and used for repairs at the Transition Services facility.

The Vegas Viking Lodge of the Sons of Norway gave $500 scholarships to Alison Barney, Centennial High School, Brigham Young University; Eliza Een, Bonanza High School, Brigham Young University; Chelsey Honrud, Coronado High School, UNLV; Oliver Kompst, West Career and Technical Academy, Chapman University; Amanda Lytle, Northwest Career-Technical Academy, Brigham Young University; Daniel Mortenson, Palo Verde High School, Brigham Young University; and Jessica Reed, Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa.

Lutheran Social Services of Nevada and Reformation Lutheran Church launched the Heart of the City Senior Meal program. Meals are served from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. daily at Reformation Lutheran Church, 580 E. St. Louis Ave., Las Vegas. Seniors 60 and older eat for free or with a donation; nonseniors may dine for a suggested $5 donation. Menu options change daily and are available at lssnv.org.

Smith’s Food & Drug Stores donated gift cards to local firefighters and $3,000 worth of school supplies to the Clark County School District’s Teacher Exchange during the ribbon-cutting of Smith’s remodeled store at 7130 N. Durango Drive, Las Vegas.

Business advisory and accounting firm Johnson Advisors held an art contest at Doris Reed Elementary School that resulted in a $5,000 check to the school and a large gift basket of art supplies to the winning artist, third-grader Sunshine Tucker, who crafted a drawing of her family standing outside her home with the title, “America Is Our Home!” and the words “Peace. Love. Freedom.” It will become a greeting card that members of the firm will send to clients, vendors and friends. Principal Melonie Poster said the money will be used for the school’s art and gardening programs.

Sands Cares, the global corporate citizenship program of Las Vegas Sands, is partnering with the Quiet Storm Foundation, C.J. Watson’s initiative to positively impact underprivileged youths, to provide 10 $1,000 scholarships over two years. The partnership includes a mentorship program to assist with career exploration for the Quiet Storm Foundation’s Youth Advisory Council.

Bank of America teamed with USO Las Vegas to collect 1,229 items to fill care packages for families of deployed troops. Donated items included shampoo and conditioner, lotion, makeup, laundry detergent, dryer sheets and snacks.

Grimaldi’s Pizzeria partnered with the Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation to conduct a pizza-making class for students suffering from visual impairments or blindness. Twelve students, ages 6 to 15, spent a morning learning the history of pizza, the layout of a restaurant and the steps it takes to make a pie.