Here is Renee's interview with Greg Smith, President & CEO of the Connecticut Lottery Corporation.
He chats about the CT Lottery's 6th Annual "Give A Child A Toy, Not A Ticket" toy drive! The annual toy drive aims to help raise awareness that lottery tickets are not suitable gifts for children, and to collect toys for kids who are patients at Connecticut Children's Medical Center.
Listen below to learn about how you can donate a toy!
Greg Smith, President & CEO, Connecticut Lottery Corporation
Greg Smith was named the President and CEO of the Connecticut Lottery Corporation in July 2018, after having served as the executive director at the Illinois Lottery from 2016 – 2018 and at the Vermont Lottery Commission from 2012 – 2016. Smith brings his years of experience in both the private and public sectors to the CT Lottery, and has served on two national lottery boards.
In his first year at the helm, Smith has overseen record-breaking returns to the state of Connecticut, with the Corporation having its best year ever in fiscal year 2019 (July 2018 – June 2019), totaling $370 million in revenue to the state’s General Fund – or more than $1 million per day. In addition, Lottery sales under Smith were up more than 5 percent over the same period, with $1.333 billion in total sales. These strong sales and general fund transfers represent the best results ever in the Lottery’s history.
Smith was named the Director of the Illinois Lottery in 2016, due in large part to his success at the Vermont Lottery Commission. As Acting Director of the Illinois Lottery, he led a management and technology transition, while restructuring Illinois’ privatized $2.8 billion lottery system. He also served on the national board of the Mega Millions Group.
During his four years at the Vermont Lottery, Smith’s leadership led to a more than 20% sales and profit growth. While at the Vermont Lottery, he served on the finance and executive committee of the Multi-State Lottery Association board, through a challenging leadership transition.
In addition to lottery experience, Smith possesses extensive private sector experience in the hospitality industry including work in the hotel business and as Director of Operations for the Vermont Country Store where he had responsibility for approximately 250 employees.
Smith is a graduate of Purdue University with a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management. He has also has held a license in Virginia as a Certified Public Accountant.
The CT Lottery is hosting its 6th Annual “Give a Child a Toy, Not a Ticket” Holiday Toy Drive from November 8 through December 18, 2019, to help raise awareness that lottery tickets are not suitable gifts for children, and to collect toys for kids who are patients at Connecticut Children's Medical Center.
Each year, over 700 toys are collected by the CT Lottery to donate to kids who are patients at Connecticut Children's. Connecticut Children's uses toys as a distraction from pain before shots, tests and surgeries, and to help celebrate birthdays and special events during longer stays.
TOY DRIVE DROP-OFF LOCATIONS:
CLICK HERE to see Connecticut Children's Medical Center's official Wish List
• CT Lottery Headquarters, 777 Brook St., Rocky Hill (Mon.-Fri., 8:30AM - 4:30PM)
• CT Council on Problem Gambling, 100 Great Meadow Rd., Suite 704, Wethersfield
• Decker Advertising, 99 Citizens Dr., Glastonbury
• U-haul Moving & Storage of Manchester, 432 Oakland St., Manchester
• Garg Consulting, 2096A Silas Deane Hwy., Rocky Hill
• Hartford Electric Supply Co. (HESCO), 30 Inwood Rd., Rocky Hill
• Scientific Games, 301 Hammer Mill Rd., Rocky Hill
• The Salad Bar, 856 Cromwell Ave., Rocky Hill
• C&A Market, 1088 Boston Post Rd., West Haven
• Zen's Toyland (formerly The Wooden Toy), 1275 Silas Deane Hwy., Wethersfield
• Zen's Toyland, 803 Williams St., Longmeadow, MA
The CT Lottery wants all players to make informed and healthy choices about how and when they play the Lottery.
GameSense is a responsible gambling campaign developed by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) and supported by experts in the problem gambling field. GameSense provides people the tools they need to learn to play responsibly. Informed gamblers are gamblers who play for fun, not for money, and who know when to stop.
GameSense Tips For Keeping Gambling Safe and Fun:
- Balance gambling with other types of leisure activities.
- Set a time limit before you play.
- Know how the game works and what the odds are before playing.
- Play for entertainment, not to make money.
- Only play with money you can afford to lose.
- Consider leaving your ATM card at home.
- Don’t borrow money to gamble.
- Take frequent breaks.
- Don’t chase losses; accept them as the cost of entertainment.
GameSense is an innovative and fresh approach to Responsible Gambling. This campaign is designed to encourage players to use their GameSense, or common sense, when gambling, by promoting the simple and straight forward messages above. The GameSense campaign educates players about Responsible Gambling and adopts a harm reduction approach that is designed to reach players before they develop a problem with gambling.
The CT Lottery was the first U.S. Lottery to become a licensee of BCLC's award winning Responsible Gambling program.