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By Erik Skoog
Fir Grove Elementary School received money for math equipment, while Glide High School has money to go ahead with the purchase of a van for its FFA program.
The Boys and Girls Club of the Umpqua Valley has received money to expand its program, and Umpqua Actors Community Theatre can replace its theater lighting.
Yes, it’s that eagerly anticipated time of the year for Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation grant recipients.
“I think we received close to 95 (grant applications) this time, and we were able to fund 48,” said Martha Young, the foundation’s administrator. “Actually, we were able to fund a few more than usual this year.”
In all, $574,115 was distributed to groups across seven counties after a four-month process of reviewing applications, visiting and speaking to the applicants and reviewing sites of proposed projects.
For The Boys and Girls Club, the $20,000 grant will mean help with staffing and improved quality and programs for children and members. Haley Overton, the club’s resource development coordinator, said that currently the club serves nearly 300 children a day. She said after the renovation of its facility on Cedar Street, a $2.194 million project expected to continue until January 2007, that number could grow to 325 children.
“We aren’t really looking to adding too many additional programs, but to improve on the ones we have,” Overton said.
Such new improvements could include a guest artist invited to participate in arts and crafts, or new software for the computer lab, she said.
The Cow Creek foundation was formed in 1997, following a tribal-state compact that allowed the Seven Feathers Casino to expand gaming operations in exchange for donations totaling 6 percent of net gaming revenues. The grants are awarded twice yearly.
“It really builds on the tribe’s natural philanthropy,” Young said.
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