BENEFIT CONCERT FOR GAMBLERS CHOICE FEATURES SINGER SARAH MORRAU MARCH 20

3/4/2010

Local jazz, blues and torch singer Sarah Morrau will headline a benefit concert for Gamblers Choice and the other programs of Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 20 in Monk’s Pub at Usher’s House, 700 1st Ave. N. in Moorhead.

Gambler’s Choice, which has served more than 1,000 regional clients over the past decade, is an educational and treatment program for problem gamblers and their families.

Tickets to the benefit concert, $20 in advance or $25 at the door, can be purchased online at www.lssnd.org or by calling 271-3207.

The event is part of The National Council on Problem Gambling’s 8th annual Problem Gambling Awareness Week campaign, an outreach effort to raise awareness about the consequences of problem gambling and the resources available to help victims and their families.

During the benefit, Morrau will feature songs from her third and most recent CD, “Here’s to Life,” a collection of titles about hope and moving forward ranging from “Pure Imagination” to the “Sunny Side of the Street.” She’ll be accompanied by Bill Law on bass and Tom Carvell on guitar.

A mental health assessment counselor, free-lance writer and yoga and fitness trainer, Morrau has recorded two other CDs, “Storm Warning” (1997) and “To Hold You” (1999). All of her CDs were produced locally by Raptor Studios in Fargo.

Also on stage that evening, a local gospel group, “In God We Trust.” Members of the group (Keith Bresin, Richard Herring, Dan Zitzow, Mike Warner and Mikkel Pates) will also perform a few numbers with Morrau.

The national gambling council’s research shows that 2% to 3% of the U.S. population will have a gambling problem in any given year. That’s 6 million to 9 million Americans, numbers that are growing every year as more casinos, more state lotteries and more web sites expand to make gambling easier than ever.

“Yet only a small fraction of problem gamblers seek out services such as treatment and self-help recovery programs,” according to Lisa Vig, director for the LSSND Gamblers Choice program.

Problem gambling, she says, is a public health issue with significant social and economic costs. ”But it’s treatable and we have the resources to help.”

Gamblers Choice has counseling sites in Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, Minot and Williston. They offer individual and group sessions, assessments and educational programs, and are considered the most comprehensive and intensive programming for problem gambling in the state.

For details about their services, call toll free at 877-702-QUIT or go to the LSSND we site at www.lssnd/GamblersChoice.