Page 20 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2021

COAST NOTE
Scarlet Pearl Donates Food Truck to the City of D'Iberville
story by Gabbie Bowden
photos courtesy of Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort
Living and working on the Mississippi Gulf Coast demands disaster preparedness. The City of D’Iberville not only arranges relief for its own citizens, but thanks to a generous donation from Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort, now has extra resources to help disaster efforts regionally.
The casino has donated a top-quality food truck to the City
of D’Iberville for its future assistance in disaster relief. “We had this asset, a food truck, not being utilized to its fullest potential,” says Scarlet Pearl representative Ben Koff. “Being the only casino in D’Iberville, we have a very close relationship with the city, and they needed a food truck for disaster relief. Locally and regionally, when disasters strike – tornados, hurricanes, flooding – they use food trucks to give aid not just locally, but across Mississippi and into neighboring states.”
The food truck was originally used for events and promotion, but as the casino discovered its own identity, the truck went largely unused. The truck itself harbors a unique quality: it allows for cooking en route. “There’s no downtime from the minute you arrive. The only barrier to providing service is getting there physically,” says Koff.
The casino’s graphic designer and marketing team vinyl-wrapped the truck’s exterior. They worked
with Illustrative Ink to finalize the
project, creating a finished product
both The Scarlet Pearl and the City of D’Iberville could be proud of.
This isn’t the first time the Scarlet Pearl has demonstrated its heart for community service. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic,
they established a Mississippi
Department of Employee Security
phone center inside the casino. “We
saw that our employees were on the phone for hours trying to obtain furlough benefits,” Koff says, “so we brought back employees to work at our new call center. We were the only private organization in the state to pay our own people to help Mississippi.”
The casino’s latest food truck donation further reflects their investment in the community. “We’re happy to set a high standard along with other likeminded businesses on the Gulf Coast.”
LuAnn Pappas
20 | July 2021
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