WAYLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Gun Lake Casino is putting its money where its mouth is as part of the push to get more people vaccinated against COVID-19.

Gun Lake Casino south of Wayland says starting Monday, it will give any patron who has been fully vaccinated a $20 credit to play. The casino says it’s a part of an effort to encourage people to get their shots.

“We feel that that’s a small gesture that we can do to help encourage the community to get vaccinated and to do our part to help out,” assistant general manager Carter Pavey said.

To receive the free game play money, the casino says guests must show their COVID-19 vaccination card and valid identification.

“We are a big community partner and any time we can help the community, I think we do. We outreach to a lot of different areas and this is just another outreach to the community and quite honestly it’s a way to say thank you to those who are getting vaccinated,” Pavey said.

Pavey said that like for many industries, the last year has been difficult and come with constant change for the casino. He said the vaccine could mean returning to normalcy sooner.

In addition to free money for guests, Gun Lake says employees and their extended family members can get the vaccine through the Gun Lake Tribal Health and Human Services Department. The casino plans to give away $5,000 worth of prizes to team members who get a shot.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Pavey said. “It’s the part that we can do to help curb the pandemic in the state and we’ll continue to do that until we get to a spot where we can say we beat this.”