Book offers behind-the-scenes look at Las Vegas charitable fundraising

Everyone who has lived present has astatine slightest 1 bully Vegas story. But, adjacent though she’s excessively bully to gloat astir it, Linda Smith’s Las Vegas stories are definite to bushed yours.

An uncomfortable gathering with a Las Vegas concern legend. That clip she mistook a Strip casino proprietor for a janitor. Getting stiffed by Jerry Lewis.

All are stories Smith tin archer acknowledgment to her 38 years arsenic main fundraiser and nationalist ambassador for Opportunity Village, and each are stories Smith does archer successful her caller book, “Confessions of a Sin City Fundraiser: How a Former Showgirl Found Her Passion and Raised Half-a-Billion Dollars for Las Vegas Charities” ($14.99 paperback and $7.99 ebook via online retailers and LindasLife.com).

“Confessions” is simply a sequel of sorts to Smith’s archetypal book, “Unwanted: How a Mother Learned to Turn Shame, Grief and Fear Into Purpose, Passion and Empowerment.” In that memoir, Smith writes astir her abusive father, her hard childhood, being homeless, her vocation arsenic an histrion and dancer, her matrimony to Canadian entertainer Glenn Smith, and her beingness successful Las Vegas.

That publication besides told of however Smith became progressive with Opportunity Village and however her precocious son, Christopher, who was calved with Down syndrome, propelled her into a vocation she ne'er had thought of pursuing. (Christopher died successful 2019 astatine property 48, and each proceeds from the publication payment the Christopher Smith Foundation, which assists caregivers and families with developmentally challenged children.)

Smith’s caller publication delves much profoundly into the nuts and bolts of raising wealth for a bully cause. Much of it illustrates lessons that tin beryllium applied to vocation oregon mundane life, and due to the fact that galore of Smith’s remembrances impact notable Las Vegans, determination are appealing tidbits for section past buffs, too.

Telling stories

Smith — who near Opportunity Village successful 2016 and present is simply a motivational talker and fundraising advisor — wrote the publication successful portion due to the fact that of the mode radical respond erstwhile they larn astir her career. “I had these stories, and I could spot radical going, ‘Wow,’ ” she says.

“Most bully fundraisers are storytellers by nature,” she writes successful the book, “understanding the request to weave the thread from the donor to the cause, ever remembering that it is astir the donor archetypal and not the origin oregon the project.

“People inevitably say, ‘Oh, it’s casual for you to fundraise due to the fact that you person each of those beauteous hotels. Gosh, conscionable walking into Caesars Palace they’ll springiness you money.’ I person to explicate it’s not corporations that springiness money, it’s radical who springiness the money.”

An accidental fundraiser

Fundraising “was not my vocation path,” Smith says. Rather, she writes, “My beingness arsenic a fundraiser unwittingly began with Chris’ commencement and an thought calved retired of desperation.”

Shortly aft Christopher’s birth, Smith and her then-husband, Glenn — an entertainer whose vocation yet brought the mates to Las Vegas — participated successful a performance successful Ontario, Canada, to rise wealth for a time attraction programme for children with intelligence and developmental disabilities. The amusement fundamentally was the archetypal Concert of Love, a star-studded extravaganza produced by the mates that for galore years was Opportunity Village’s signature fundraiser successful Las Vegas.

Among the performers who volunteered their clip was a pre-“Saturday Night Live” Gilda Radner, who was “awesome and sweet,” Smith says. “She was instantly taken with Chris and wanted to help. She was conscionable an astonishing pistillate who conscionable had that kindness successful her.

“That archetypal performance was successful, and from that I learned precise much,” says Smith, who writes: “I was educating myself successful the ways of philanthropy. The crushed radical springiness is that they are asked, and astir radical are acrophobic to inquire different radical for help.”

Coming to Las Vegas

When the mates arrived successful Las Vegas, Opportunity Village was a tiny foundation founded and mostly funded by 7 families, Smith says. “They opened their archetypal thrift store and besides had a small schoolhouse due to the fact that their kids were considered uneducable.

“It was founded successful 1954, and I came on successful the mid-’70s, and it evolved into what it became, which was an employment grooming center. It was tiny and struggling and conscionable depended connected the families. They didn’t person fundraising events and didn’t person a fundraising unit position.”

Smith had worked with the nonprofit arsenic portion of a personage wives enactment erstwhile she was large with Chris. After his birth, she helped retired the radical arsenic a unpaid fundraiser. Seven years later, the unpaid occupation turned into a unit presumption and, for Smith, a caller career.

A charitable education

She began to larn astir the business, and the art, of raising money. Inevitably, immoderate of the lessons came hard, and successful the publication she’s candid astir the times things didn’t spell well. Once, she visited the bureau of E. Parry Thomas, the banker who paved the mode for Las Vegas’ improvement by pioneering loans to gaming companies, to inquire him to beryllium the honoree astatine a payment to rise $25,000 for Opportunity Village.

Earlier, Mike O’Callaghan, erstwhile Nevada politician and past a Las Vegas Sun editor, who was a mentor and usher to Smith, had told her, “Smith, this is simply a engaged guy, and you person 1 changeable astatine him, truthful don’t messiness it up.”

After being escorted to Thomas’ office, “I went connected and connected telling him wherefore we request the $25,000 and ‘If we could conscionable grant you … ,’ not taking a breath, not taking a hint,” Smith says. “Then mediocre Mr. Thomas looked astatine his watch.”

Smith knew she was losing him. Finally, she writes, Thomas told her, “I’ll springiness you $25,000 if you don’t grant me.”

Later, she writes, “Instead of telling maine what a moron I was, Governor Mike laughed heartily and was precise pleased. ‘Smith, let’s conscionable find 10 much radical who don’t privation to beryllium honored and nonstop you connected your way.’ And truthful helium did. As I met with 9 much almighty men successful gaming, hospitality and industry, I picked up $25,000 astatine a time.”

Smith besides recalls visiting the Imperial Palace with Chris for a gathering with proprietor Ralph Engelstad and asking a feline successful bluish jeans and an IP-logo garment however to find the enforcement offices. The antheral — a janitor oregon different staffer, Smith assumed — showed the way, trading comic faces with Chris arsenic the elevator ascended.

When they reached Engelstad’s office, Smith discovered that the antheral was Engelstad.

“Our precise archetypal face-to-face meeting,” she says. “He had a broom successful his hand.” That awkward instauration aside, Engelstad became a beardown protagonist of Opportunity Village, and the agency’s determination connected South Buffalo Drive present is named Opportunity Village’s Ralph & Betty Engelstad Campus.

Celebrity encounters

Smith shares stories of encounters with celebrities implicit the years, too, including comedian Jerry Lewis, who erstwhile visited Opportunity Village’s Magical Forest with his entourage. Because helium didn’t privation to mingle, helium asked for the attraction to beryllium opened early. However, Lewis showed up precocious and asked that paying guests beryllium kept away, was rude, and refused to motion autographs for volunteers, according to Smith.

“By the clip the radical had swooped past each accidental to pay, to acquisition oregon amusement immoderate modicum of involvement successful the information that this was a volunteer-run lawsuit with each proceeds supporting foundation … I was nary longer a fan,” she writes.

“The adjacent day, I did a speedy calculation of the fig of radical successful their entourage, however galore rides they rode, introduction costs, what you would person to wage for a VIP tour. I added up each nickel I could deliberation of and sent an invoice for $370.” It was astir making a point, Smith says.

But the invoice, and consequent invoices, was neither acknowledged nor paid. Finally, six months later, she sent an invoice to Lewis’ PR representatives with, she writes, “a enactment (saying) ‘Your lawsuit owes radical with disabilities $370. Mr. Lewis and his entourage came to a foundation fundraising lawsuit and near without paying. There was nary prearranged woody to not pay.’ We yet got the $370.”

But astir celebrities were generous and supportive, Smith says. “I deliberation it’s conscionable knowing radical are radical first. Celebrities are radical first. Most celebrities … it’s a bully experience.”

There are plentifulness much tales successful the publication — for example, a heated nationalist relations conflict with a section vigor DJ who accused the nonprofit of shady dealings aft a break-in astatine its thrift store — and the root stories of specified now-iconic fundraisers arsenic the Las Vegas Great Santa Run and the Magical Forest.

Smith hopes readers volition “laugh oregon chuckle astatine immoderate of the stories and possibly larn a small spot much astir what goes connected down the scenes successful the nonprofit world. And, of course, I’m hoping radical will, perhaps, larn much astir the Christopher Smith Foundation and enactment radical with disabilities.”

Also, she jokes, “I anticipation they (will) person much compassion for money-grubbing fundraisers.”

Contact John Przybys astatine reviewjournal.com. oregon 702-383-0280. Follow @JJPrzybys connected Twitter.