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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2016)
S moke S ignals OCTOBER 1, 2016 7 Community Fund surpasses $71 million in giving Sept. 14 check distribution bids farewell to George as director By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor Spirit Mountain Community Fund’s third-quarter check distri- bution held on Wednesday, Sept. 14, in the Governance Center was noteworthy for more than surpass- ing the $71 million mark in giving. Community Fund Director Kath- leen George resigned her position the day before after being elected to Tribal Council on Sept. 10. She was sworn in to office two and a half hours before the check distribution. Community Fund Program Co- ordinator Louis King took over as acting director in George’s stead. During the check distribution ceremony, the Community Fund awarded 27 large grants and 16 small grants ($5,000 or less) for a total of $688,999, which pushed the Tribe’s philanthropic giving since 1997 to more than $71.65 million. In 19 years, the fund has awarded 2,362 grants to 1,054 different or- ganizations. The Community Fund receives 6 percent of Spirit Mountain Casino’s profits and distributes those funds to nonprofit charitable organiza- tions in 11 northwestern Oregon counties, as well as Oregon’s nine federally recognized Tribes. Although she had resigned, George’s presence was felt as she appeared in the Community Fund’s revamped video shown to grant re- cipient attendees before the checks were handed out. She also attend- ed as a supportive Tribal Council member. “I want to thank you for the in- credible work you do for Oregon communities,” George said. “That is what Spirit Mountain Community Fund is all about. That is why the Tribe wanted to create this fund, wanted to dedicate our revenues to empower communities to identify the solutions in their community and make those solutions happen. We are so pleased and so honored to be able to empower your work because you folks are truly our community heroes.” Spirit Mountain Community Fund Board of Trustees Chairman Sho Dozono also gifted George with a bouquet of flowers, thanking her for her almost five years of lead- ership. “She used to work for me, but now I work for her,” Dozono joked. “She’s been a phenomenal leader for our fund. … I want to thank Kathleen for the wonderful job you did, helping to take us to the next level.” In addition to George, Tribal Council Chair Reyn Leno, then-Vice Chair Jack Giffen Jr., then-Secre- tary Cheryle A. Kennedy and fellow Tribal Council members Tonya Gleason-Shepek, Brenda Tuomi, Denise Harvey, Chris Mercier and Jon A. George attended the check distribution. “It’s always a pleasure. This is one of the best things, I would say, you can do as a council member is to be part of this,” Leno said. “There’s really no problems or issues with Photo by Michelle Alaimo Spirit Mountain Community Fund Interim Director Louis King talks with Doris Towery, vice president of development for Planned Parenthood, left, and Suzie Hunter, annual fundraising manager for Planned Parenthood, during the fund’s third-quarter check presentation held in the Governance Center on Wednesday, Sept. 14. giving away money. … It’s always a great opportunity to have people come here. Grand Ronde is a Tribe of about 5,000 people. One of the most important things about here are these documents. They are our seven treaties that represent this Tribe up and down the whole Willa- mette Valley from Washington clear to California. It’s a vast area. A lot of people don’t realize that. When we get to have people come here, we certainly enjoy telling our story.” Jon A. George joined Cultural Resources employees Jordan Mer- cier and Brian Krehbiel and Public Affairs Administrative Assistant Chelsea Clark in performing the cultural drumming and singing to open the check distribution cere- mony. Community Fund Grants Coor- dinator Julia Willis helped draw names of groups for three gifts. Recipients were the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesti- cides, Dallas Fire Department and Classroom Law Project. After receiving their checks from Harvey, Kathleen George and Tu- omi, recipients shook hands with the other Tribal Council members and then posed with Leno to have their photo taken by Tribal photog- rapher Michelle Alaimo. The largest grant – $43,200 – went to the Lane County Legal Aid & Advocacy Center in Eugene for its rural and multicultural outreach project. Advocacy Center Development Director Andrea Ciaston said the Community Fund grant will help the organization fund attorneys and advocates traveling into rural areas to bring free legal services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. “Prior to this program, these folks had no services,” Ciaston said. “Be- cause of Spirit Mountain we’ve seen a 33 percent increase in the people we reach in these areas. They’re suddenly discovering that we exist and that we’re able to help.” The outreach will help victims living in Florence, Junction City, Cottage Grove, Oakridge and Blue River. Other large grant recipients were: • Bienestar Inc. of Hillsboro, $26,410, for enhancing academic achievement of Bienestar chil- dren and youth; • CASA of Polk County in Dallas, $15,000, for capacity building; • Children’s Book Bank of Port- land, $41,000, for building home libraries for Albina Head Start preschoolers; • Dallas Fire Department, $25,000, for replacement of auto extrica- tion equipment and extrication response; • Classroom Law Project of Port- land, $10,000, for Project Citizen: Promoting Responsible Participa- tion in Civic Life; • Dental Foundation of Oregon of Wilsonville, $30,000, for Tooth Taxi, a free mobile dental clinic; • Food Roots of Tillamook, $15,000, for its Farm to School program; • Friends of Tryon Creek Park of Portland, $25,000, for habitat restoration and connecting people to nature and ancestral lands; • Gateway to College National Net- work of Portland, $25,000, for the PDX Bridge: From State Care to College program; • KBOO Foundation of Portland, $20,000, for preserving 50 years of audio from communities of color; • Kinship House of Portland, $34,000, for Kinship East’s New Starts program; • Lewis and Clark College of Port- land, $20,000, for its first phase of problem gambling treatment research; • Lincoln County Child and Family Day Treatment Center of Toledo, $35,000, for a relief nursery; • McKenzie Watershed Alliance of Springfield, $10,000, for Lane County Salmon Watch; • Mid-Valley Healthcare Inc. of Lebanon, $19,000, for adolescent mental health care and wellness; • Mother & Child Education Center of Portland, $8,183, for increasing capacity for enhanced services; • New City Initiative of Portland, $25,000, for improving education- al outcomes for children and fam- ilies experiencing homelessness; • Northwest Center for Alterna- tives to Pesticides of Eugene, $20,000, for its Clean Water for Salmon initiative; • Oregon Native American Busi- ness & Entrepreneurship Net- work of Portland, $20,000, to fund its Native Youth Entrepreneurial Empowerment initiative; • Philomath Youth Activities Club Inc., $5,000, for its Get Active After School program; • Planned Parenthood of Southwest- ern Oregon of Eugene, $15,000, to fund sexuality education pro- grams to improve teen educational success in Springfield schools; • Portland Community College Foundation, $20,000, to fund “Future Connect,” the school’s educational and workforce devel- opment program; • Schoolhouse Supplies Inc. of Portland, $20,000, to expand the geographic reach of its free store for teachers; • Salem-Keizer Coalition for Equal- ity, $40,000, for Leyendo Avan- zamos, its emergent literacy intervention program; • University of Portland, $25,000, to fund the study of a new alter- native school model; • And Wellmama Inc. of Eugene, $30,000, for its Reaching All Mothers program. Small grant recipients were: • A Community of Hope & Inspi- ration Enabling Volunteers’ En- deavors of Molalla, $2,000, for its Getting to Know Molalla effort; • Baby Blues Connection of Port- land, $1,750, to support its Every Body-Gender and LGBTQ Inclu- sion pilot program; • CASA of Lincoln County of New- port, $4,950, to support advocacy for abused and neglected children; • Center for Community Counsel- ing of Eugene, $5,000, to fund mental health counseling to strengthen the community; • Chelsea Hicks Foundation of Tualatin, $5,000, to expand ther- apeutic play programming for seriously ill children; • Civil Liberties Defense Center of Eugene, $5,000, to fund a train- ing program and resource center; • Create Plenty of Portland, $5,000, to fund a high school environmen- tal leadership project; • International Carpe Diem Foun- dation Inc. of Portland, $5,000, for its PDXchange program; • Kitchen Commons of Portland, $5,000, to fund its Health Equity Requires Food Access effort; • Little Hands Can of Eugene, $3,000, to fund its after-school program; • North Tillamook Library Board of Manzanita, $5,000, to fund the first year of a four-year major maintenance program; • Portland Meet Portland, $4,500, to fund its refugee youth leader- ship and lived citizenship effort; • The Artback of Eagle Creek, $2,500, to fund a Celtic world mural; • Third Angle New Music Ensem- ble of Portland, $5,000, for music education in schools; • Valley AIDS Information Net- work Inc. of Corvallis, $3,500, for HIV prevention services needs assessment in Linn and Benton counties; • And Yamhill County CASA of McMinnville, $5,000, for its Serve Every Child effort.