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About Smoke signals. (Grand Ronde, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2015)
S MOKE S IGNALS APRIL 1, 2015 9 Community Fund tops $64 million in giving By Dean Rhodes Smoke Signals editor The Grand Ronde Tribe’s phil- anthropic arm, Spirit Mountain Community Fund, topped the $64 million mark in giving on Wednes- day, March 18, when it distributed 24 grants totaling $704,413. Since its formation in 1997, the Community Fund has distributed 2,141 grants worth $64,647,236.10. As part of the Tribe’s gaming compact with the state of Oregon, the Community Fund receives 6 SHUFHQWRISURÀWVIURP6SLULW0RXQ- tain Casino and distributes the funds to charitable organizations in the categories of education, health, arts and culture, environment, historic preservation, public safety and problem gambling within an 11-county area of western Oregon. Grant selection is made by the Spirit Mountain Community Fund Board of Trustees, which includes Tribal Council Chair Reyn Leno, Secretary Toby McClary and Tribal Council member Ed Pearsall. The check distribution ceremony opened with Land and Culture Department employees Bobby Mercier, Brian Krehbiel and Travis Stewart, accompanied by Tina Lara and Kyoni Mercier, performing cul- tural drumming and singing. Community Fund Director Kath- leen George told attendees that the Grand Ronde Tribe appreciates partnering with their organizations to make western Oregon a better place to live. She added that 22 of the 24 organizations were previous grant recipients. “Welcome back to many old friends and welcome to the Spirit Mountain Community Fund family to the new folks,” George said. “It is a tremendous privilege for the Tribe and Spirit Mountain Com- munity Fund to invest in your work and to empower your work. I want to thank you for being Oregon’s community heroes.” McClary welcomed grant recipi- ents to Grand Ronde. “It is important for us to get peo- ple out past the casino to the Tribal headquarters to realize that we are Photo by Michelle Alaimo After being gifted a water bottle, Spirit Mountain Community Fund Director Kathleen George, left, talks with National Indian Child Welfare Association Executive Director Sarah Kastelic, middle, and Alexis Contreras, who provides project support at the nonprofit. Contreras is a Grand Ronde Tribal member. more than a casino out here,” Mc- Clary said. “We are a true govern- ment, a sovereign nation. … It is a pleasure to give our money back to VXFKJHQHURXVDQGJUHDWQRQSURÀWVµ After attendees watched a video that recounted the Tribe’s history and explained the Community Fund, checks were distributed by Pearsall and Spirit Mountain Casi- no Facilities Director Ron Reibach, who also sits on the fund’s Board of Trustees, while Community Fund Program Coordinator Louis King read off the names. Recipients of grants were: • Children’s Vision Foundation of Bend for its Seven-Step Vision Screening Project, $5,000; • Friends of Polk County CASA Inc. of Dallas for improving the num- bers, training and satisfaction of its Court-Appointed Special Advocates volunteers, $5,000; • Phoenix Rising Transitions of Gresham for its housing project, $5,000; • Quilts From Caring Hands of Corvallis for providing at-risk children with colorful, comforting quilts, $3,000; • Albertina Kerr Centers Foun- dation Inc. of Portland for its children’s mental health campus, $75,000; • Beaverton Education Foundation for Camp Achieve, which works to prevent the summer slide in low-income students, $32,000; • Centro Cultural of Washington County in Cornelius for its Son- risa Children’s Dental Program, $35,000; • Chess for Success of Portland for closing the achievement gap at 45 schools through after-school chess, $30,000; • Classroom Law Project of Port- land for Project Citizen, which promotes responsible participa- tion in civic life, $5,000; • Columbia Riverkeeper of Hood River for its reducing toxins proj- ect “Fish to Fork,” $25,000; • Impact Northwest of Portland for its Thrive by Five! Project, $50,000; • Linn County CASA of Albany to recruit, train and retain court-ap- pointed special advocates, $17,820; • National Indian Child Welfare Association of Portland for its Crisis Response project, $50,000; • Northwest Center for Alterna- tives to Pesticides of Eugene for its Clean Water for Salmon proj- ect, $48,670; • Oregon CASA Network of Spring- ÀHOGIRULWV&$6$6XVWDLQDELOLW\ in Oregon project, $46,923; • Oregon Council on Problem Gam- bling of Wilsonville for its adult gambling prevalence replication study, $10,000; • Oregon Foundation for Repro- ductive Health of Portland for its Healthy Women, Healthy Preg- nancies, Healthy Babies project, $35,000; • Oregon Historical Society of Port- land for its Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde digital records project, $5,000; • Pearl Buck Center of Eugene to support its preschool program, $25,000; • Polk County of Dallas for its Cen- tral Health and Wellness Center, $80,000; • Self Enhancement Inc. of Port- land for its Core Program, which aims to close the achievement gap, $25,000; • The Friends of Creston Chil- dren’s Dental Clinic of Portland for its capacity building project, $21,000; • Yamhill Carlton School District of Yamhill for its Healthy Kids Learn Better project, which will encourage students to utilize a school-based health center, $20,000; • And Youth Villages Inc. of Maryl- hurst for its Cedar Bough Native American Psychiatric Residential Treatment Program, $50,000. Also attending the check distribu- tion from Tribal Council were Denise Harvey and Tonya Gleason-Shepek, as well as longtime Tribal Council Chair Kathryn Harrison. The event wrapped up with the Community Fund honoring the spir- it of potlatch even more by holding a drawing for three gifts. The Ore- gon Council on Problem Gambling received a framed painting of Mt. Hood, Columbia Riverkeeper won a decorative vase and the Oregon Foundation for Reproductive Health won a gift box from Made in Oregon. Grant recipients also posed for photos with George and McClary taken by Tribal photographer Mi- chelle Alaimo. Q Smelt season On Sunday, March 15, about 30 people from Grand Ronde traveled to Lewis and Clark State Park east of Troutdale for smelt dipping in the Sandy River. The Natural Resources Department provided dip nets and buckets, but unfortunately there were no smelt to catch. The smelt dipping season in Oregon was VSHFLÀHGIRURQO\WZRGD\VZLWK0DUFKEHLQJWKH last of those days, between 6 a.m. and noon. Tribal Elders, from left, Gladys Hobbs, Violet Folden and Guy Schultz watch some of the day’s activity from under the cover of a pop-up tent and the warmth of blankets during the gathering for smelt dipping at Lewis and Clark State Park on Sunday, March 15. The morning was rainy and chilly. Photos by Michelle Alaimo Singing the “Salmon Song” before smelt dipping began, from left, are Tribal Council member Jon A. George and Land and Culture Department employees Travis Stewart, Bobby Mercier and Brian Krehbiel. Although there were no smelt running that day, Mercier said that it is always good to be in the area of ancestors’ village sites.
