Community Fund surpasses $98 million giving mark

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

Spirit Mountain Community Fund awarded more than $745,000 in grants on Wednesday, Sept. 18, during a check presentation held in the Governance Center Atrium.

The Community Fund receives 6 percent of proceeds from Spirit Mountain Casino and awards that money to nonprofits in 11 northwest Oregon counties to fund efforts in the areas of arts and culture, environmental preservation, education, health, historic preservation and public safety, and to the nine federally recognized Tribes in Oregon under the fund’s Tribal Grants program.

As of the third quarter of 2024, the Grand Ronde Tribe’s philanthropic giving has surpassed $98 million with 3,357 grants awarded since 1997.

The Community Fund was created as part of the Tribe’s gaming compact with the state of Oregon. It is supervised by an eight-member Board of Trustees that includes Tribal Council members Denise Harvey and Brenda Tuomi, who serves as board chair.

Tribal Council members who attended the check presentation included Tuomi, Secretary Jon A. George, Chairwoman Cheryle A. Kennedy, Lisa Leno, Matthew Haller and Kathleen George.  

Executive Director Angie Sears welcomed attendees to the event and thanked them for making the drive out to Grand Ronde.

“Our check presentations are a way to connect with grantees, celebrate your work and share who you are,” she said.   

The check presentation opened with an invocation by Kennedy and drum song led by Jon A. George.

Kathleen George, a past Community Fund director and Board of Trustees member, provided opening remarks.

“Thank you for coming to our home,” she said. “When you come to Grand Ronde, we get to see the community heroes doing the work in our communities and this is a great gift. Most of the time, when people think of Tribes, they think of casinos. I love the Community Fund because it turns the narrative upside down…I want to raise my hands to you. You are the community heroes and it is an honor to empower your work. It is a way the ancient tradition of potlatch lives on.”

Sears introduced Community Fund employees: Program Coordinator Angela Schlappie, Administrative Assistant Pamala Warren-Chase and Grants Coordinator Jesse Knight. 

The attendees then watched a video on the history of the Tribe. After the video, Bambinos Oregon Executive Director Glenda Dunaway gave a brief description about what her Dallas-based organization seeks to do in the community.

The organization received a $7,500 grant from the Community Fund. It provides diapers, wipes, baby food, formula, baby equipment and car seat safety clinics to Polk County residents.

“This was the first year we decided to attempt grant writing,” she said. “We’ve been in the Polk community for 16 years and until a few months ago, were all volunteer.”

After the nonprofit’s clientele doubled in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization decided to purchase a mobile unit to serve families that couldn’t reach their Dallas office.

“We have seen the need for baby supplies grow and not just in Polk County,” she said. “We purchased a bus and are renovating it. The grant we received from the Tribe helped immensely with that…We are excited to expand our services.”

Last year, the organization served 1,300 babies and leaders are hoping to double the number this year.   

During the check distribution portion, the Community Fund awarded 10 small grants worth $60,000 and 12 large grants worth $660,000. Included in the grand total were five youth grantmaker grants for $25,000. A check presentation for that was held earlier this summer.

Knight announced the small grant recipients and Schlappie announced the large grant recipients.

Small grant recipients were:

• Agape Village of Portland, $1,500, for mental health training;
• Attorney General's Sexual Assault Task Force of Lane County, $7,500, for its bridge project/SANE training program;
• Bag and Baggage Productions of Hillsboro, $7,500, for its Intergenerational Native Theater Project;
• Bambinos Oregon of Dallas, $7,500, for its diapers and baby essentials bus for rural families;
• Outside In of Portland, $7,500, for GED program support for the employee and education resource center:
• Pile of Puppies of Beaverton, $4,924;
• Returning Veterans Project of Portland, $7,500, for community supported health services for veterans;
• Singing Creek Educational Center of Cottage Grove, $2,000, for its Acorn Circle program expansion;
• Willamette Farm And Food Coalition of Eugene, $7,500, for its Our Farmers Feeding Our Families program;
• Elderberry Wisdom Farm of Salem, $7,500, for its Indigenous habitat restoration training project.

Large grant recipients were:

• Alberta Abbey of Portland, $50,000, for programming support for the Alberta Abbey in 2024-25;
• BE-BLAC Foundation of Salem, $50,000, for uplifting and empowering BIPOC youth in Salem-Keizer School District;
• Bridge Meadows of Portland, $50,000, for improving health and well-being through intergenerational relationships;
• Constructing Hope of Portland, $30,000, for its Constructing Hope succession plan and leadership development for the pre-apprenticeship program;
• Get Schooled of Yamhill County, $50,000, for supporting Indigenous post-secondary success;
• Horses Adaptive Riding & Therapy of Salem, $100,000, for its Magical Adaptive Riding Facility - Phase 2;
• Jackson Street Youth Shelter of Corvallis, $100,000, for expanding outreach and services for youth experiencing homelessness;
• Lines for Life of Portland, $50,000, for destigmatizing mental health for youth in Northwest Oregon;
• Pearl Buck Center of Eugene, $50,000, for preschool for children of low-income families living with disabilities;
• Portland Community Football Club, $30,000, for its family services program: equity-focused soccer and wraparound supports;
• Relief Nursery Inc. of Eugene, $50,000, for its Accessing Success Peer Support program;
• Youth Progress Association of Portland, $50,000, for trauma-informed educational services for youth in foster care.

After the conclusion of the grant awards, three beaded necklaces were raffled off to Bridge Meadows, Pile of Puppies, and Horses Adaptive Riding & Therapy. Relief Nursery Inc. won the raffle for an Ikanum saddle blanket.

“The work you do is helping to make a better life for people in your communities,” Sears said. “Thank you.”