Yesterday (Feb. 22), former President Bill Clinton made two speeches at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, one for Harrah’s employees and another for the general public.

Clinton spoke on a variety of topics, with a focus on the importance of individual and corporate philanthropy.

The former President speaks about "Embracing Our Common Humanity."

Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. and the company’s philanthropic arm, the Harrah’s Foundation, announced a $1 million gift to the William J. Clinton Foundation. The donation, in part, will be allocated to the Clinton Foundation’s Haitian relief efforts.

Read more about the speeches at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

Rio Vegas headliners Penn & Teller are heading up a team, “Penn & Teller Challenge,” for AIDS Walk Las Vegas, Apr. 25. Find out more.

Funny onstage, but serious about the fight against AIDS.

Penn and Teller are Grand Marshals of AIDS Walk Las Vegas this year. As such, they’re raising the bar. Join the Penn & Teller team, and the entertainers will match every dollar donated! Join here.

Last year, the AIDS Walk raised more than $550,000.

A group of Harrah’s Entertainment team members donated more than 600 turkeys to people in need this weekend. Learn more.

Harrah’s Entertainment Chief Financial Officer and all-around-good-guy Jonathan Halkyard was among the employees who spread some holiday joy. Halkyard, who also works extensively with Nevada Ballet Theatre, United Way of Southern Nevada and the American Red Cross of Southern Nevada, when asked about the involvement of Harrah’s Entertainment, said, “We employ more than 20,000 people here in our town, and serve even more as guests. As one of the largest employers, it’s critical that we reach out. It’s so easy to help, and Harrah’s makes it even easier.”

The event was organized by Nevada Partners, a nonprofit that provides education, employment and training services. Learn more.

Today’s Santa Run at Town Square, to benefit Las Vegas charity Opportunity Village, was a blast! It’s being reported that 14,595 Santas braved the chilly weather to participate in the event. If verified, the turnout would be a new Guinness World Record.

There were more Santas than you can shake a candy cane at.

NASCAR driver and Las Vegas native Kurt Busch helped kick off the event, along with Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman and his usual bevy of showgirls. Grueling job!

More photos to come!

He knows if you've been bad or good. Then again, it's Vegas, so it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure that one out.

Flamingo funnyman George Wallace has launched a toy drive on behalf of HELP of Southern Nevada, a group that serves needy children.

From Dec. 1-12, guests who donate two or more unwrapped toys to the George Wallace Toy Drive will receive a free ticket to his popular show.

George Wallace smiles a lot, but he'll smile even more if you donate some toys.

The free tickets can be redeemed for any show through Dec. 19. Donations can be made from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, at the Flamingo Showroom.

Learn more about HELP of Southern Nevada.

We spotted Las Vegas resident and sports legend Andre Agassi the other night attending his son’s baseball game.

Agassi is such a laid-back and supportive sports dad. Wife Steffi Graf was also in attendance.

Agassi is currently in the throes of a media frenzy over his new autobiography, “Open,” now in stores. His interview on “60 Minutes” was riveting TV, as Agassi frankly and fearlessly confronted his demons.

The sports star’s impact on Las Vegas is undeniable, including founding the Andre Agassi Charitable Association in 1994. His Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy has helped scores of children prepare for higher education. Read more about his philanthropic efforts.

As we so eloquently mentioned in a previous post, the annual Duck Derby, a fundraiser for local charity Positively Kids, featuring 10,000 rubber ducks, took place on Oct. 24. We couldn’t resist stopping by the Duck Derby to check out the fun, especially for a worthwhile cause.

Thousands of ducks, pre-pluck.

As advertised, there were lots and lots of rubber ducks. We tried to verify the total number, but lost count at about 8,204. Close enough! Guests had the chance to “adopt” the ducks, and the ducks were then plucked from the water for prizes (and even a shot at a million bucks).

We bumped into Positively Kids CEO Fred Shultz who seemed downright giddy at the turnout for the event hosted by Town Square.

Again, lots and lots of rubber ducks.

The event featured tons of live entertainment, including one of our favorite Vegas fixtures, Gregory Popovich. Popovich does a show featuring rescued animals doing rather amazing things at the V Theater, Miracle Mile Mall (Planet Hollywood). Find out more about this fun show.

Animal-lover and showman Gregory Popovich.

It was great to see the community turn out in large numbers to support a group that serves Las Vegas’ medically dependent and critically-ill children and their families.

Now back to your regularly-scheduled Las Vegas blog featuring drinking, gambling and carousing.

Our community-conscious employee-volunteers won’t toot their own horns, but we’re happy to do it.

This past weekend, H.E.R.O (Harrah’s Entertainment Reaching Out) employee-volunteers, from our eight Pulse of Vegas resorts, took the environmental lead by participating in Make a Difference Day 2009 (Oct. 24), at a local school, George E. Harris Elementary.

Ellen, an IT pro for Harrah's Entertainment, helps unload goodies for a new "edible garden" at the school.

The 60 volunteers, along with students, teachers and parents, brought environmentally-sustainable upgrades to the school.

Faculty, students and volunteers work on the school's new garden.

Also part of the day was a book cleaning for Spread the Word Nevada: Kids to Kids, a nonprofit that distributes books to at-risk students in Southern Nevada. Our Flamingo Las Vegas headliner, Donny Osmond, has been involved with this organization, too. See more.

Spread the Word Nevada founder Laurie Hartig helps volunteers and students with cleaning books donated by the community.

We love our employee-volunteers. They’re definitely making a difference. Learn more about Make a Difference Day.

High-profile women’s golf pros Natalie Gulbis, Cristie Kerr and Suzann Pettersen have been selected to represent the LPGA Tour in this year’s Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge. The Challenge will be held at Rio Secco Golf Club on Nov. 10. Find out more.

This nationally-televised competition features three players from each major tour competing against each other, all to benefit the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. It’s free to attend!

"Rio Secco" is Spanish for "How do they keep that grass so green?!" (We think.)

Rio Secco is one of Las Vegas’ premier golf courses. See more.

Note: You’re correct. That was, indeed, a link to information about “links.” Ah, the circularity of the universe.

Las Vegas’ annual PGA tournament returns Oct. 15-18, in association with the Justin Timberlake and Shriners Hospitals For Children. This is the 27th year Las Vegas has hosted a PGA Tour event. Read more.

Sin City offers a variety of drop-dead-gorgeous golf courses, and the prime season for golf won’t be here forever. Find out more about the best golf courses in Las Vegas.

There are always wonderful charitable events taking place in our community here in Las Vegas, and our employees often volunteer to participate. Join us at the American Heart Association 2009 Las Vegas Start Heart Walk on Oct. 10. Learn more.

Or think about biking for a good cause in Bike MS, a ride to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. This is a national event, with 100 rides, including one right here in Vegas. Information here.

So many of our great employees devote their free time to charitable causes in and around Las Vegas. We’d love to have you join us at an upcoming event, the Light the Night Walk for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. A team of volunteers will be participating on October 3, and we’d love to see you there to support a very worthy cause.

As you might suspect, Donny Osmond, currently at the Flamingo with his sister Marie, is very involved with local Las Vegas charities. He was spotted at a recent event supporting a children’s literacy effort, Spread the Word Nevada: Kids to Kids.

Best credit to tell kids when you’re Donny Osmond? “Mulan.” (He played Shang, the army leader.)

 We love our local Vegas nonprofits! Harrah’s has an ongoing relationship with Spread the Word Nevada: Kids to Kids, and volunteers from Harrah’s Entertainment devote time to cleaning gently-used books for children in local schools.

Donny enjoys taking in shows as much as being in them, it appears.

Learn more about Spread the Word Nevada.