DECEMBER 1, 2005
Tribe Reaches $30 Million In Giving
COMMUNITY FUND
continued from front page
enables them to make their dreams
come true."
And to that end, the Community
Fund recently passed the $30 mil
lion mark in giv
ing to the
community.
Since 1997, the
first year of giv
ing, 127 grants
have gone to
Arts and Culture
($4.2 million),
309 grants have
gone to Educa
tion ($11.7 mil
lion), 66 grants
have gone to
Environmental
Preservation
($2.7 million),
163 grants to
Health ($5.8
million), 14 grants to Historic
Preservation ($837,000), 6 grants
to Problem Gambling ($216,000)
and 77 grants to Public Safety ($6
million). Together, 762 grants
have provided $31.5 million to
communities that the Community
Fund serves.
"Who would have thought that
in so short a time, we could have
accomplished so much?" said
Community Fund Board Director
Kris Olson. Olson is a former U.S.
Attorney for Oregon. "Lives have
been transformed. Hope has
been restored," she said. In New
York, she added, the' Grand
Rondes are known as "the little
Tribe that could."
The evening, starting with a so
cial hour and video loops of Com
munity Fund recipients and
projects, included a steak and
salmon dinner, the presentation of
10 more or less surprise $5,000
checks to groups chosen by each of
the board members, and then the
real fun began: dancing to the
swinglng'sounds of Pepe" and the .
Bottle Blonds.
Like everything the Community
Fund does, the $50,000 worth of
surprise checks tasted like icing on
the cake to Doernbecher Children's
Hospital, Coast Watch, the Pearl
Buck Center, Children's Cancer
Association, Henderson House,
Oregon Zoo Foundation, Basic
Rights Oregon, Clackamas
Women's Services, Oregon Foster
Parent Association and the Oregon
Historical Society.
"When we can help charities like
this," said Tribal Council member
Reyn Leno, "I take it as a real
honor."
"Let's be sure that women are
safe in their own homes," said
Board member and State Senator
Kate Brown of her recipient choice,
Clackamas Women's Services.
"You humble us with your gen
erosity," said Salem City Councilor
and Polk County Fair Board mem
ber Dan Clem. The Fair Board is
a recipient of Community Fund
grants.
"It's a form of giving that comes
from the heart," said Board Chair
Kris Olson.
"Our experience mirrors our
clientele's experiences," said
Hanson. "We have built a health
clinic. We have exponentially ex
panded our education programs.
We have provided social services to
our members."
Hanson quoted former Cherokee
Chief Wilma Mankiller, now the
r X it
k 4
i'w"'rry VVV77 A 11 I
! ! II Jl
i J V u VrLy ll
1 1 o& l j A Mr W
" I fficial
j :'' - J i r Invitation
. ? . "!, A "-yrmJ
J Photos by
Vv-i-., 1 If TobyMcCIary
j ' VIP Regional Director of the Bureau
I of Indian Affairs Stanley M. Speaks was
a guest of honor at the Tribe's $30
' million celebration of giving.
J.J f V' h' "
nil 'ii'.i'mti-"-- r4 -nm i -11111 1 'tddtikiii-i 'i'i' iir 1
off 0
".;.::.r.:::.7 fllll
Tribal Council Secretary Chris Mercier
Wayne Morse Chair at the Univer
sity of Oregon. "'It's all a process
of trying to reclaim our sense of self
and understand ourselves, and re
spect who we are as a people.' Isn't
that the values we want to hold
dear when working with others?
Nurturing their unique personal
ity and style.
"'Everything I'd ever believed in
my life about my own people was
banking on people showing up and
volunteering to rebuild their com
munity,'" Hanson said, continuing
to quote Mankiller. "'It wasn't just
the physical rebuilding, it was the
fact that people would take charge
of their own lives and their own
future and rebuild ourselves as a
people...'"
The Community Fund is among
the top 10 charities in Oregon.
r
v
''im 200S
.AMOUNT
pivc 7w4aid too 5, 000
Surprise Gift Spirit Mountain Casino's Human Resources Director and Tribal member Camille Mercier presents a
check for $5,000 to the Henderson House, a place where victims of domestic and sexual violence in Yamhill County can
seek safe and confidential services including shelter. The Community Fund donated a total of $50,000 that evening.