More than 5,000 employees have applied for assistance through an MGM Resorts International program to help furloughed workers pay basic living expenses, a company executive said.
Through the end of March, the MGM Resorts Foundation emergency fund has paid out about $1.8 million for expenses such as housing, utilities and medical bills.
The fund has covered more than 1,300 requests, with an average payment of just over $1,400, Jyoti Chopra, chief sustainability officer, said in a social media post over the weekend.
Chopra said MGM officials are “working through the incredible volume of applications as quickly as possible.”
About 60,000 MGM employees have been furloughed because of the coronavirus pandemic, and some may not be recalled before the end of the year or beyond, the company said.
Gov. Steve Sisolak in mid-March ordered casinos and other nonessential businesses statewide closed to curb the spread of the virus.
Casinos are not allowed to reopen until at least May 15, and then only with strict limitations.
During a normal year, the MGM emergency fund helps 200 to 300 employees. The last two years, it paid out about $500,000 a year.
In a letter to employees Tuesday, acting MGM CEO Bill Hornbuckle said the assistance fund has collected more than $13 million.
Senior MGM officials and managers, entertainers and other private foundations have been among those to donate.
Pop star Bruno Mars, who was in the midst of a residency at MGM’s Park Theater before the shutdown, gave $1 million.
The estate of late Las Vegas businessman and philanthropist Kirk Kerkorian donated $2 million.