Paf and Emmaus arrange poker tournaments to combat human trafficking

Åland gaming company Paf has a long tradition of donating money to good causes. This tradition continues in a new partnership with the international charity movement Emmaus to help combat human trafficking.

Paf are arranging a series of poker competitions on Mondays for a period of 6 months, where Paf and their players will donate half the prize pool to a support centre in Lithuania for women who have been victims of trafficking.

Paf guarantees that at least 5,000 dollars will be donated to the cause, but it is hoped the games will exceed that amount considerably.

-     We have noticed that many of our customers on Åland appreciate that Paf works for good causes and want to develop that work together with us. When this initiative came from one of our poker players we responded right away.

-     Emmaus then suggested that the money should be used to combat one of the worst crimes of our time – human trafficking and sex slavery. We believe in this partnership and that our customers will feel the same and take part in the poker tournaments. By playing poker together we can actually make life better for young women who have become victims of trafficking, says Paf’s press officer Anders Sims.

The Emmaus group based on Åland, who are already working with the centre in Vilnius, will make sure the money reaches them.

-     All the money will reach its target; nothing will be lost to middlemen. This partnership is a new way raising awareness about an urgent issue. With help from Paf, we can mitigate against the effects of and even prevent people trafficking and sex slavery, says Robert Jansson, Director of Emmaus Åland.

-     The money will go to the construction of a new shelter and rehabilitation centre in Vilnius that the victims of human trafficking and sex slavery will be able to return to.

According to Robert Jansson it is the attention, not just the money, which a poker tournament like this attracts that is important.

-     In Emmaus we are always working to try and fix the root causes of the problem. In the question of sex slavery the problem is that there is demand, a market. That there are people who buy and use other people. That’s why information and work to shape attitudes is also important. The partnership with Paf gives us the ability to reach out to a much wider target group with this message. So there are several benefits to be had from the poker tournament which can help us to change society for the better.

The poker tournaments on paf.com will start on 30 May at 8pm CET and will continue until the last Monday in October. Every tournament costs 22 dollars to enter and half of that (11 dollars) will go to the prize pool while the other half will be donated directly to Emmaus, who will in turn give the money to the centre in Vilinius. Paf will spice up every tournament by adding a Paf Live Event Qualifier Ticket worth 320 dollars.

The initiative for this collection comes from 2010’s Paf Poker Challenge winner, Michael ”McMunken” Graf, who will personally be donating the $320 ticket in the first tournament!

You find more information about the organisation that runs the centre here:http://www.missing.lt/en/istorija.php 

And you can read more about the projects that Emmaus Åland works with here:  
http://www.emmaus.ax/bistand.html 

For more information contact:

Anders Sims 
Head of Press and PR, Paf 
+358 (0)457-342 8228 
anders.sims@paf.com

 
Robert Jansson 
Director, Emmaus Åland 
+358 (0)40-7529191 
robert.jansson@emmaus.ax