Spirit Mountain Community Fund hits $60.68 million in charitable giving

Spirit Mountain Community Fund, the philanthropic arm of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, reached the $60.68 million mark in charitable giving on Wednesday, Sept. 18, as 25 checks worth $591,517 were distributed during its quarterly check presentation in the Governance Center Atrium.

Formed in 1997, Spirit Mountain Community Fund distributes 6 percent of profits from Spirit Mountain Casino to nonprofit organizations in 11 western Oregon counties, as well as to Oregon's nine federally recognized Tribes as part of its Oregon Tribal Grant program.

Since its inception, the Community Fund has awarded 1,984 grants worth $60.68 million. So far in 2013, it has distributed 83 grants worth $2.3 million.

The Community Fund supports projects in the areas of Arts & Culture, Education, Health, Historic Preservation, Public Safety, Environmental Preservation and Problem Gambling.

Community Fund Executive Director Kathleen George welcomed representatives of the grant recipient organizations and thanked them for partnering with the Grand Ronde Tribe to make Oregon a "healthier, better educated and safer place" for all to live in.

Former Tribal Council member Steve Bobb Sr. gave an invocation and Tribal Council Chair Reyn Leno, who also sits on the Spirit Mountain Community Fund Board of Trustees, gave a short history on the Tribe, including the fact that it was formed from 27 bands and Tribes, it signed seven treaties with the federal government and that there are currently more than 5,200 Tribal members.

"This is the best job to have on council," Leno said. "We meet here every two weeks and sometimes the conversation is not as nice as when you are giving away money."

Leno said the Tribe created the Community Fund because the West Valley community helped take care of Tribal members during 29 years of Termination between 1954 and 1983.

"The community took care of us for 30 years," Leno said. "We wanted to give back, and we love helping out people."

George added that the Community Fund is the continuation of a Tribal tradition of mutual responsibility to care for the people and the land.

After watching an informational video on the Community Fund and Tribe, grant recipients received their checks and gift bags from Bobb and shook hands with Tribal Council members Cheryle A. Kennedy and Denise Harvey.

They then had their picture taken with Leno and George by Tribal photographer Michelle Alaimo.

The following nonprofits, broken down by county, received grants:

Multnomah

• Albertina Kerr Centers Foundation Inc., $75,000 for expansion of the crisis psychiatric care facility for children;
• College Possible, $25,000 for College Possible Portland;
• Columbia Riverkeeper, $25,000 for its Fish Swim project;
• Community Transitional School, $15,000 for school transportation for homeless students;
• Lewis and Clark College, $50,000 for its Problem Gaming Clinic expansion;
• Northwest Mothers Milk Bank, $35,000 to support organizational stability, program quality and growth;
• Oregon Wild, $15,000 for protection of Oregon's backyard old-growth forests;
• Self Enhancement Inc., $25,000 for its Youth Potential Realized program;
• St. Andrew Legal Clinic, $40,000 for a legal access fund to protect women and children;
• Upstream Public Health, $27,500 for its Healthy Drinks, Healthy Kids project;
• Vibe of Portland, $20,372 for its Vibe @ School expansion;

Benton

• Benton Hospice Service, $20,000 for a family grief support program;

Marion

• CAPACES Leadership Institute, $5,000 for the TURNO youth program;
• Friends of the Straub Environmental Learning Center, $2,000 for its Nature Kids youth naturalist series;
• Western Rivers Conservancy, $20,000 for re-establishing Chahalpam in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde;
• Willamette Riverkeeper, $15,500 to its Riparian Response program, which restores and improves riverside habitat;

Polk

• Children's Vision Foundation, $10,000 for its seven-step vision screening project;
• Friends of Polk County Casa Inc., $5,000 for volunteer recruitment, training and retention;
• Willamette Valley Hospice, $15,000 for safe patient handling equipment for its Edward F. Tokarski home;
• Young Women's Christian Association of Salem, $19,000 for expanding health services to low-income Polk County women;

Yamhill

• Juliette's House, $12,145 for its Safe Kids child assault prevention program;

Lane

• Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides, $20,000 for its Clean Water for Salmon effort;

Lincoln

• Oregon Coast Aquarium, $25,000 for general operating support;
• Oregon Pacific Area Health Education Center, $40,000 for its Health Professions Preparation Program;

Tillamook

• Tillamook County Women's Resource Center, $30,000 for its Youth Teaching Youth Violence Prevention project.