Thank you!

We wanted to take a moment to say, "Thank you." Over our six years of action, Casino-Free Philadelphia has seen many successes — the city's first citizens' voting campaign with Philly's Ballot Box, the country's first direct action inside an operating casino during Beat the House, stalwart community opposition so great that Foxwoods lost its funders and its license, and too many more to list. The constant throughout all of it has been you. Your unwavering support and dedication to making Philadelphia casino-free has been a continued source of inspiration.

To celebrate six years of effective community organizing, Casino-Free Philly will be holding an exhibition at the A-Space in West Philly for the next few weeks. You'll be able to see many of the fantastically inventive signs, banners, and props that Casino-Free has used in its colorful history.

We'll be gathering tomorrow evening, Saturday, April 21, at 7:00 PM for an informal get-together at the A-Space, 4722 Baltimore Avenue.

We'll be having a larger event to close the A-Space exhibition sometime in May — information to follow.

The future: A casino-free Philly, or a second casino on North Broad?

We're not only looking backward. We are undergoing a transformation in which we see the organization focusing less on maintaining a physical presence and more on being a virtual place for people to share ways to mitigate the harms of predatory gambling — and to be ready for action when it's needed.

So Casino-Free Philadelphia is getting leaner. To reduce our overhead, we've given up our office on Market Street and are modifying our website to be a platform where we all can post articles, blog about events, network, and share ideas and resources. It will include a space for skill-sharing and trainings so other community groups can continue to use past Casino-Free actions as models for future direct actions.

It is you, our innovative and relentless members, that have helped us recognize Casino-Free's new role in both the city and the world of grassroots activism.

We've reduced our costs so that your donations go further — toward supporting our online presence, maintaining our database, and supporting direct action as it's needed.

Philadelphia still needs an effective grassroots anti-casino movement. The pro-casino forces are committed to expanding their exploitation of our communities, and we need to remain committed to defending our communities from them until our city is free from the scourge of predatory gambling. That's the vision we've shared for six years: a casino-free Philadelphia.

Committed people like you who are willing to share your resources — money, time, knowledge, or skills — are our greatest asset in this struggle. We need you on the front line.

Casino-Free Philadelphia isn't one person or idea, but many creative forces working in concert. Thank you for being one of the many brilliant and passionate people who make up the Casino-Free community.

Developer looks to old Inquirer building for new casino

While we may be quiet for now, we certainly are keeping our eyes and ears on the horizon, and are committed to keeping out a second casino.

Last week, developer Bart Blatstein announced his intention to turn his company's recently acquired property — the old Inquirer building and its surrounding property — into a "spectacular" casino.

But because of the amazing work we did tying up Foxwood's casino license, Blatstein has much work to do before he has any chance of securing the second casino license.

Keep your eyes open for future updates!

Images: Flickr users vistamommy, It's Our City, Creative Commons licenses.