Can someone tell me whether this is true or made up?

[fpb]

From R.J.Neuhaus' column in FIRST THINGS magazine:

A reader tells me that there are more Catholic churches in Las Vegas than casinos. When the offering is received at Mass, it is common for people to put casino chips rather than cash in the baskets. The several parishes send the collected chips to a neighboring Franciscan Monastery, where they are sorted and then cashed in at the casinos they came from. This weekly task is undertaken by those who are called the chip monks.

Comments

[goreism.livejournal.com]

In the U.S., they usually don't pay taxes, insofar as they have taken vows of poverty and remit any compensation they receive for their services to their religious order. Since religious orders are generally tax-exempt organizations, they don't pay taxes either.