S moke S ignals
JULY 1, 2017
Aaron retires
Photo by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal Council Chairman Reyn Leno, left, and Tribal Health Services
Executive Director Kelly Rowe, right, gift Tribal Elder Darlene Aaron
with a Tribal logo Pendleton blanket during an honoring for her
retirement held at the Grand Ronde Health & Wellness Center on
Thursday, June 15. Aaron worked for the Tribe for 28 years and she
retired as a Tribal health promotion specialist with the Community
Health Program. Her first job with the Tribe was as a secretary with the
Health Program. In her 28 years working for the Tribe, she also started
the Education Committee.
9
ANNOUNCEMENT
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde recently implemented a
process that will allow all Tribal members who reside in the state
of Oregon the option of requesting Oregon income tax withholdings
from their per capita and Elders benefit payments. Information
regarding this option was mailed to all Oregon resident Tribal
members in March.
While recognizing we have Tribal members who currently reside
throughout the 50 states, we will not be offering the state income tax
withholding option to Tribal members who reside outside of Oregon
at this time. The administrative time, costs and reporting require-
ments to implement the option in all states would be expensive. This
is the main contributing factor in our decision not to offer the option
outside of Oregon.
There are a couple of options for Tribal members who wish to set
aside money to cover any potential year-end state tax liability:
Tribal members aged 18 and older can defer a portion of their
per capita payments to their adult savings plan. That money would
be available to withdraw from your savings plan as needed. Please
note – this option is not available for Elders payments. Money
cannot be deferred to the adult savings plan from Elders payments.
Open a regular savings account at a bank or credit union and
set aside money throughout the year for your use as needed.
Check with your state’s taxing authority to determine if you are
able to pay “estimated” taxes throughout the year, which could
reduce the amount you are required to pay at year-end.
We encourage you to seek advice from your tax accountant or CPA
should you have any questions about your specific state tax liability.
Community Fund distributed 33 grants
COMMUNITY FUND
continued from front page
nance Center Atrium since taking
over the fund in February.
“You are here because your stead-
fast work in communities fulfills
our mission,” Cherry said about
the Tribal tradition of potlatch, or
sharing the bounty. “We thank you
very much for the work that you
are doing.”
The Community Fund distributed
seven small grants and 26 large
grants to nonprofit organizations
in 11 northwest Oregon counties.
Tribal Council Chairman Reyn
Leno and council members Tonya
Gleason-Shepek, Kathleen George,
Jack Giffen Jr. and Denise Harvey
attended the event. Leno, Giffen
and Harvey also serve on the Com-
munity Fund Board of Trustees, as
does Spirit Mountain Casino Facili-
ties Services Director Ron Reibach,
who also attended.
After a video was shown that
recounted the Tribe’s history and
Board of Trustees Chairman Sho
Dozono quizzed attendees on its
contents, Leno made a special
presentation to Julia Willis, Com-
munity Fund grants coordinator,
who was a one-person show after
Kathleen George was elected to
Tribal Council in September 2016
and another staff member resigned
before Cherry was hired. Willis re-
ceived a Tribal Pendleton blanket.
“We always want to recognize our
employees. The ones who do the
day-to-day work and really show
their commitment to their jobs,”
Leno said. “This lady here was the
Community Fund. It needs to keep
going and obviously we have a staff
of three, but at one time this was
the Community Fund. I think that
it really showed that it is not just
a job for her, it’s more of a com-
mitment and a job. … She sets the
example here for the employees at
the Tribe.”
In a new wrinkle, a grant recip-
ient representative spoke about
their program. McMinnville School
District teacher David Larson
talked about the district’s Robotics
League, which received a $25,000
grant.
“Currently, we have a program
where every single third-grader,
as they go through their classes,
they are learning how to pro-
gram,” Larson said. “They are
learning about basic mechanical
engineering, a little bit about
electrical engineering and from
there there’s opportunities to
join robotics teams as part of our
after-school program. It’s really
grown in the last few years, which
I’m really proud of.”
Tribal Lands Manager Jan Look-
ing Wolf Reibach opened the event
by performing a welcoming song
solo on drum.
Cherry also introduced Angela
Sears, the Community Fund’s new
program coordinator, who came
over from working at the casino.
“It’s been an amazing experience
so far. I feel blessed to be a part
of the Community Fund and be a
team member of an organization
that funds such important projects
like yours,” Sears said.
Recipients were:
Small grants
• Clara’s Closet of Lincoln City,
$5,000, to fund Safe Sleep for
Lincoln County Newborns;
• Friends of the Straub Environ-
mental Center of Salem, $7,500,
for its 2016-17 youth environmen-
tal educational programs;
• McMinnville Area Habitat for
Humanity, $6,154, for its Women
Build program;
• McMinnville Free Clinic, $5,000,
to help fund 2017 operations;
• Sheridan School District, $6,900,
to fund classroom collaboration
and student achievement;
• Triangle Productions of Portland,
$6,300, for its Brown Paper Bag
series;
• Yamhill Fire Protection District
of Yamhill, $3,146, for its Digital
Information project.
Large grants
• Adelante Mujeres of Forest
Grove, $30,000, for its School of
Forgiveness and Reconciliation;
• August Wilson Red Door Project
of Portland, $15,000, to fund its
monologue competition;
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Emerald
Valley of Eugene, $15,000, for its
Think Beginning in Grade School
program;
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland
Metropolitan Area, $35,000, for
its Catalyst Campaign in the
Rockwood area;
• Caldera of Portland, $15,000, for
its Portland Youth Mentoring
Program;
• Cascade Aids Project Inc. of Port-
land, $19,000, for its Sexually
Transmitted Infections Preven-
tion and Testing for All program;
• Children’s Institute of Portland,
$35,000, for Early Works, which
provides building blocks for third-
grade success;
• Coalition of Communities of Color
of Portland, $35,000, for “Bridg-
es,” a leadership development
institute;
• Halprin Landscape Conservan-
cy of Portland, $10,000, for its
“Elements” program designed to
rediscover Portland’s open space
sequence;
• Japanese Ancestral Society of
Portland, $35,000, for its Minoru
Yasui Film Project;
• Latino Network of Portland,
$20,000, for its culturally specific
Latino ninth-grade counts Sum-
mer Bridge program;
• Marion-Polk Food Share of Sa-
lem, $25,000, to replace a truck
and sustain and expand its emer-
gency food service capacity;
• Metropolitan Contractors Improve-
ment Partnership of Portland,
$35,000, for its Regional Minority
Contractor Equity Initiative;
• Morrison Child & Family Ser-
vices of Portland, $15,000, for its
planned and crisis respite care
outreach effort;
• Native American Youth Associ-
ation of Portland, $25,000, for
its Portland Equitable Energy
Transition program;
• Open School Inc. of Portland,
$25,000, to foster culturally re-
sponsive practices to advance
equity for students of color;
• Our United Villages – The Re-
building Center of Portland,
$25,000, for its ReFind Education
program aimed at Portland’s
low-income youth;
• Pearl Buck Center of Eugene,
$20,000, for its Vocational Acad-
emy that offers employment-fo-
cused education for all abilities;
• Planned Parenthood of the Colum-
bia Willamette Inc. of Portland,
$35,000, for expanding accessible
health care for vulnerable popula-
tions west of Portland;
• Special Olympics Oregon Inc. of
Portland, $25,000, for its Unified
Champions schools;
• Store to Door of Portland, $15,000,
for nourishment and social con-
nections for homebound Elders;
• Tillamook Forest Heritage Trust
of Tillamook, $60,000, for its For-
est Center education pavilion;
• University of Oregon Foundation
of Eugene, $7,500, for its Native
Language Community Storybook
project;
• Willamette Falls Heritage Area
Coalition of West Linn, $15,000, for
its master planning document for
a state-of-the-art museum exhibit;
• Youth Rights & Justice of Port-
land, $15,000, for breaking the
school-to-prison pipeline through
interdisciplinary advocacy for at-
risk youth.