S moke S ignals
JULY 1, 2015
9
Community Fund tops $65 million in giving
By Dean Rhodes
Smoke Signals editor
The Grand Ronde Tribe’s philan-
thropic arm, Spirit Mountain Com-
munity Fund, surpassed the $65
million mark in giving on Wednes-
day, June 17, when it distributed
28 grants totaling $682,785.
Since its formation in 1997, the
Community Fund has distributed
$65,360,012.10 to charitable orga-
nizations in an 11-county area of
western Oregon in the categories
of arts and culture, education,
environmental protection, health,
historic preservation, problem
gaming and public safety.
As part of the Tribe’s gaming
compact with the state of Oregon,
the Community Fund receives 6
percent of Spirit Mountain Casino
profits to fund its grants.
Held in the Governance Center
Atrium, the check distribution
started with Land and Culture
staff members Jordan Mercier,
Michael Karnosh, David Harrelson
and Travis Stewart performing a
drum song.
Community Fund Director Kath-
leen George introduced Tribal
Council members in attendance:
Vice Chair Jack Giffen Jr., Secre-
tary Toby McClary, Tonya Glea-
son-Shepek, Chris Mercier and Ed
Pearsall. McClary and Pearsall sit
on the Community Fund’s Board
of Trustees along with Chairman
Sho Dozono, who also attended the
check distribution.
“We couldn’t be more proud to
support your work,” George said.
“You folks who are here today are
truly our community champions,
and I have to tell you that the Tribe
is tremendously proud to invest in
and empower your work.”
McClary thanked grant recipi-
ents for driving to Grand Ronde
to see that the Tribe is more than
Spirit Mountain Casino.
Photo by Dean Rhodes
Tribal Council Secretary Toby McClary shakes hands with Rachel Alston,
executive director and founder of the PDX Diaper Bank, and hands her a
$2,500 check during the Spirit Mountain Community Fund quarterly check
distribution held Wednesday, June 17, in the Governance Center Atrium.
The grant will help the organization expand to serve the Native American
community in Portland by providing free diapers to low-income individuals.
In the background, Community Fund Director Kathleen George prepares the
next check for McClary, who sits on the fund’s Board of Trustees.
George added that Spirit Moun-
tain Community Fund has start-
ed concentrating on supporting
underserved communities either
geographically or demographically.
She said that Program Coordi-
nator Louis King and Grants Co-
ordinator Julia Willis have been
visiting nonprofits in rural Oregon,
giving grant trainings to seed those
communities with people who can
help acquire funding for worth-
while projects.
“One other way that Spirit Moun-
tain Community Fund is trying to
be conscientious about our work
and about what we do with our
funding … we know that it is true
that historically the philanthropic
community has not invested in
traditionally marginalized com-
Summer food service starts
A free lunch for any child from 1 to 18 years of age will be served
beginning Monday, June 8, as part of the Summer Food Service.
Free lunch will be served through Aug. 14 at Tina Miller Park in
Willamina from 11 to 11:30 a.m. and at Raven Loop Park in Grand
Ronde from noon to 12:30 p.m.
Lunch also will be served at Willamina Elementary School to any
student attending the Art Conspiracy in June and summer school
in July and August. n
Artists Wanted
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde is looking for
talented artist to design illustrations for the newly
created 8th Grade Tribal History Curriculum.
This is a paid opportunity to contribute beautiful art-
work and help tell the story of our ancestors.
For more information or to apply please contact
Mercedes Reeves in the Adult Education Building
or call 503-879-2282.
munities,” she said. “These may be
communities of color. These may be
our LGBT community. Maybe it’s
our disabled community who have
not traditionally been invested in
as much as needed and as much as
is right.”
George said that 59 percent of
Community Fund grants in 2014
were awarded to applicants that
serve communities of color or are
located in rural areas to help rem-
edy that situation.
After grant recipients watched a
video about Tribal history and the
Community Fund, King read the
list of grants while McClary and
George handed out checks.
Grant recipients this quarter
included:
•Bay City Arts Center Inc. of Bay
City, $5,000 to support its Edu-
cation and Outreach Program.
•Fish of Albany Inc. of Albany,
$3,610 for its Snack for Packs
program.
•Florence Food Share of Florence,
$5,000 for its Culturally Diverse
Food Project.
•MediaRites of Portland, $5,000
for its Theatre Diaspora Project.
•Midcoast Watersheds Council
of Newport, $600 to make its
meetings more productive and
accessible.
•National Urban Housing and
Economic Community Develop-
ment Corp. of Molalla, $2,500 for
orientation and training for job
readiness at its Tigard Covenant
Affordable Housing Project.
•North End Senior Solutions
and Adult Day Services of Otis,
$5,000 to support adult day ser-
vice and transportation.
•PDX Diaper Bank of Portland,
$2,500 for its agency partnership
expansion to serve the Native
American community.
•Tillamook Serenity Club of Til-
lamook, $5,000 to expand its
Recovery Outreach Program.
•Trauma Healing Project Inc. of
Eugene, $5,000 to its Survivor
Wellness Project.
•A Family For Every Child of
Eugene, $50,000 for its Family
Preservation Program.
•Bradley Angle House of Portland,
$50,000 for its culturally specific
programs for underserved popu-
lations.
•Bridgeway House of Springfield,
$20,000 for its Social Group Pro-
gram for children with autism.
•Child Advocates Inc. of Oregon
City, $30,000 for A CASA For
Every Child.
•Doernbecher Children’s Hospital
Foundation of Portland, $49,950
for its Dental Van Outreach Pro-
gram.
•My Sisters’ Place of Newport,
$22,996 for a security upgrade
for its shelter.
•New Avenues for Youth, $30,000
for its PDX Connect effort.
•Oregon Lions Sight and Hearing
Foundation Inc. of Portland,
$30,000 for its mobile health
screening program “2020 Vision.”
•Partners For A Hunger Free Ore-
gon of Portland, $50,000 for child
hunger prevention.
•Portland Women’s Crisis Line of
Portland, $18,000 for its Support
& Empowerment Project.
•Salem Schools Foundation of
Salem, $45,834 for its STEM
Academy.
•Salmon-Safe Inc. of Portland,
$41,795 for its Mayor’s Chal-
lenge, which is inspiring Portland
to become a salmon-safe city.
•Tillamook County Women’s
Resource Center of Tillamook,
$30,000 for capacity building of
its Sexual Assault Response and
Advocacy Team.
•University of Oregon Foundation
of Eugene, $50,000 for its 90 by
30 Child Abuse Prevention Initia-
tive.
•Upstream Public Health of Port-
land, $35,000 for its Early Child-
hood Wellness program.
•Western Rivers Conservancy of
Portland, $35,000 for re-estab-
lishing the Chahalpam site in
partnership with the Confeder-
ated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
•Willamette University of Salem,
$30,000 for its Native American
Programs capacity building proj-
ect.
•And Youth Rights & Justice
of Portland, $25,000 for school
works advocacy for children in
the foster care and juvenile jus-
tice systems.
At the conclusion of the ceremo-
ny, a drawing was held for three
gifts and winners were the PDX
Diaper Bank, Partners For A Hun-
ger Free Oregon and Bay City Arts
Center. n
College Placement Testing offered
College Placement Testing is offered on-site at the Adult Education
Building for Chemeketa Community College, Linn-Benton Community
College and Mount Hood Community College. The Placement Test is one
of the first steps to beginning college classes. Call 503-879-2282 to sign
up for your placement test. n