Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation awards $759K to 93 Southern Oregon nonprofits

ROSEBURG, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation awarded $759,930 to non-profit organizations across Southern Oregon on Thursday at Seven Feathers Casino Resort. This brings the Foundation's total philanthropic giving to over $27 million since 1997.

Read the full release from Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, including notable grantees and impacts made, below:

The Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation celebrated its winter awards ceremony on 

Thursday at Seven Feathers Casino Resort, distributing $759,930 to 93 of Southern Oregon’s most dedicated and compassionate non-profit organizations that work tirelessly to strengthen their communities.

The grants were awarded to non-profits in Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Coos, Klamath, Lane and Deschutes counties. With Thursday’s awards, the total amount of philanthropic giving by the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation (CCUIF) reached $27,199,988 since it was founded in 1997. 

The ceremony brought together dozens of non-profit leaders who confront some of the most pressing challenges facing Southern Oregon communities, from food insecurity and housing instability to youth development and healthcare access.

"Non-profit work is hard. You are understaffed and underfunded. There are bureaucratic hurdles, burnout, and the emotional weight of witnessing suffering in the community. The problems you're trying to solve are getting more complex,” said Carla Keene, Chairman of the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. “Yet you show up. You keep going. You find ways to do more with less. Thank you for your resilience.”

“I've known many of you for a long time and I think of the foundation now as a woven blanket,” said CCUIF Executive Director Carma Mornarich. “The people of Southern Oregon are now covered and warmed by a blanket that you all wove together. I thank you for creating that warm blanket that wraps around our communities.”

CCUIF makes contributions twice per year based on the following core principles: no one should go hungry; every child should feel safe; education builds character; and healthy bodies and healthy minds mean healthy communities.

Grantees apply for specific funds that are dedicated to projects outlined in their application. Some notable recipients of this term's grants include:

• Furnish Hope, a furniture bank in Deschutes County that received $5,000 to provide free furnishings to low-income people and families transitioning from homelessness

• Adventure! Children’s Museum in Lane County that received $7,500 to offset costs for reduced or free entrance for families

• Grants Pass Family YMCA in Josephine County who received $10,000 to help organize day camp field trips for children during summer break

• The Dora Public Library of Coos County who received $2,930 to create a multi-generational cooking class for local families

• Cobb Children’s Learning Center in Douglas County who received $10,000 to close tuition gaps for low-income families in need of childcare 

• Friends of the Children of Klamath Basin in Klamath County who received $10,000 to continue pairing mentors with children who have experienced severe trauma 

Of the 93 grantees awarded funds on Thursday, 47 of them received $10,000 to advance their community projects. Grant funds are allocated from a percentage of revenue generated from gaming at Seven Feathers Casino Resort and dedicated to charitable giving in the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians' seven-county service area. 

In addition to the hundreds of thousands of dollars in foundation awards that are distributed twice per year, the Tribal Board of Directors for the Cow Creek Umpqua Tribal Government also make regular philanthropic donations throughout the community, most recently $34,000 to Douglas County food pantries last month, and over $130,000 to local school districts to feed children and families over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday breaks. 

Seven Feathers Casino Resort is located in Canyonville within the Cow Creek Umpqua ancestral territory, six miles from where Tribal leaders in 1853 signed a treaty with the U.S. Government