"Any law which UPLIFTS human personality is JUST.
Any law which DEGRADES human personality is UNJUST."- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Our Movement

Our mission is to stop predatory gambling - the government program that uses gambling to prey on human weakness for profit. It is a something-for-nothing scheme that creates an allusion of phony prosperity and veils the most predatory institution in America today.

Our movement is about much more than gambling - it is about the purpose and promise of America. The government program of predatory gambling has taken away the freedom of millions of Americans because to exist, it depends on addiction and indebtedness. By definition, someone who is an addict or in deep financial debt is not free.

There is no more politically diverse movement in the nation, an affirmation that Americans, despite all of our differences, share basic core principles and values regardless of whether we consider ourselves a part of the political Left or Right.

No issue better symbolizes what ails our economy and our democracy and most importantly, how we can fix it, than the government program of predatory gambling.
A Brief History of the National Movement to Stop Predatory Gambling

The roots of the movement began forming almost twenty years ago as state and community leaders challenged efforts to bring commercially exploitive gambling products into their communities. Tom Grey, a Rockford, Illinois resident who fought against a proposed casino in his community, emerged as a leader for the movement which evolved as a diverse national coalition of groups and individuals.

To help spotlight how extreme America has become in using gambling to prey on human weakness for profit in the name of paying for government services, the Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation was formed in September 2008. Executive Director Les Bernal, Field Director Tom Grey and Board Chairman Dr. Guy Clark made the mission clear: build a strong, unified national movement of 100,000 people who are committed to stop predatory gambling and willing to educate their community about the movement. We are on our way and ask you to join our effort to keep America true to the principles it represents.
 

Our Team

Les Bernal - Executive Director
Tom Grey - Field Director
Jarratt Watkins - National Lottery Initiative Coordinator

Our Board of Directors

The officers and directors of Stop Predatory Gambling Foundation serve as volunteers and are often officers and directors of their own state organizations.
 
Guy C. Clark, D.D.S., Chairman - New Mexico

Jonathan Krutz, MBA, Vice Chair - Idaho

Marilee Taylor Mongtomery, Secretary - California
Stop the Casino 101

Mr. George Buffett, Treasurer - New Mexico

Cynthia J. Abrams - Washington, D.C.
Program Director, Alcohol and Other Addictions
General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church

Tom Coates - Iowa

Barrett Duke, Ph.D. - Washington, D.C.
Vice President for Public Policy and Research
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Southern Baptist Convention

Nathan Dunn - Florida

Mr. William S. Evans - Utah
Public Affairs, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Joseph C. Godfrey - Alabama
Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP)

Greg Hogan - Ohio

Dr. Dan Ireland - Alabama
Alabama Citizens Action Program

Mr. Grant Ipsen - Idaho
 
Mrs. Audray R. Johnson - California
Southeastern California Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (SDA)

Mrs. B. JoDean Joy - South Dakota
Citizens Uniting for Gambling Reform

Ms. Pat Loontjer - Nebraska
Gambling With the Good Life (Nebraska)

Suzii Paynter - Texas
Christian Life Commission, Baptist General Convention of Texas

Dr. Frank Quinn - South Carolina

Attorney Stephen Reeves-Texas

Carey M. Theil - Massachusetts

Weston W. Ware, Ph.D - Texas
Texans Against Gambling

Charlotte Wellins - New York

Rev. John D. Wolf- Indiana
Indiana Coalition Against Legalized Gambling