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.