Hard Rock Culture Club makes improvements to community

Shamaya Sutton, Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, Calif.
·2 min read

Jul. 26—Team members at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain have been volunteering their time in a number of community related efforts. The group is known as the Culture Club, an internal volunteer organization present at all Hard Rock facilities.

In the Yuba-Sutter region, Hard Rock's Culture Cub has been increasing its community efforts as pandemic-related precautions continue to lift.

In April, the Culture Club teamed with the city of Yuba City to plant over 50 water-wise plants at Gauche Park for Earth Day. These plants were chosen in consideration of California's ongoing drought, and to encourage water conservation in the public's own landscaping projects.

In June, the group went to the Adventist Health/Rideout Cancer Center in Marysville to beautify its garden prior to the hospital's annual Cancer Survivor's Mixer. Over 80 pounds of dark-wood mulch and various plants were added to the center's courtyard offering guests an opportunity to celebrate in a clean and attractive space.

"These two efforts support our mottos of 'Take Time to be Kind' and 'Save the Planet,'" said Ryan Flieger, vice president of human resources at Hard Rock Sacramento. "With COVID behind us, our team members have never been more motivated to get into the community and drive change."

While Hard Rock Culture Clubs have been around for the past decade, the one based out of Fire Mountain in Wheatland hadn't been able to get its start until post-COVID. Flieger described the efforts of the Culture Club as "team-member directed," meaning that Hard Rock employees choose projects and events based on their own interests and the needs of their community.

"The reality is that more than half of our workforce lives in Yuba-Sutter," said Flieger. "So it's very important to them that we're committed to making Yuba-Sutter a great place to live, not just to work."

Other Culture Club programs include a food drive that benefits the Yuba-Sutter Food Bank, collecting donations for the Children's Hope Foster Family Agency in Gridley, and funding Geweke's Caring for Women Foundation during its Pink October events. Currently, the Culture Club is working to collect 250 backpacks to assist the Tri-Counties Community Center in its back-to-school preparation efforts.

Aside from these charity based projects, the Culture Club also gets to enjoy its own recreational activities such as a bowling league and golf tournament.

"Our team members are really committed to the community and giving back," said Flieger. "The generosity is pretty impressive. Anytime they've gotten the opportunity to do something they've really gotten behind it which is a great story for us to be able to tell."

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain is located at 3317 Forty Mile Rd. in Wheatland. For more information about Hard Rock's community relations and donations, visit hardrockhotelsacramento.com/donations.