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.