Snoqualmie Indian Tribe Announces Donations Focusing on Environmental Education

 

SNOQUALMIE, Wash., Jan. 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe recently donated $15,000 to the Mercer Slough Education Center, run by the Pacific Science Center. “The partnership with the Snoqualmie Tribe helps us to provide memorable and exciting encounters with environmental science, reaching 10,000 students, parents, and teachers a year,” says Dana Fialdini. “The Pacific Science Center is grateful for the support we have received.”

Another recent donation of $25,000 to the Burke Museum is supporting the exhibit Elwha: A River Reborn, which focuses on the removal of the Elwha Dams. Julie Stein, Executive Director for the Burke, says the museum is “delighted to partner with the Snoqualmie Tribe” and that the sponsorship helps the Museum and others “celebrate and share the historic and transformational story with tens of thousands of people in our community, across the state, and far beyond.”

The Tribe also made donations to Sightline Institute and the Seattle Aquarium for $6,000 and $40,000, respectively. “We are honored to support these worthwhile organizations that focus on educating the community on important conservation and environmental matters,” said Tribal Secretary Alisa Burley.

These most recent donations are part of the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe’s long-standing commitment to investing in various nonprofit initiatives in the Snoqualmie area and statewide.  Since 2010, the Tribe has donated over $3.5 million to hundreds of Washington State nonprofit organizations, including the Woodland Park Zoo, the Swedish Hospital, Seattle International Film Festival, Pike Place Market Foundation, and the Seattle Art Museum.

“We are truly humbled by the amazing work these local non-profits are doing in our communities and are proud to partner with them in their endeavors,” said Tribal Chairwoman Carolyn Lubenau. “We look forward to what the future may bring for the Tribe and its community partners.”

To qualify for a donation from the Snoqualmie Indian Tribe, an organization must be located within Washington State and a 501c3 non-profit organization. Applications are available online at www.snoqualmietribe.us with the next application cycle deadline set as Friday, January 31st.

The Snoqualmie Indian Tribe is a federally recognized tribe in the Puget Sound region of Washington State. Known as the People of the Moon, Snoqualmie Tribal members were signatories of the Treaty of Point Elliott with the Washington territory in 1855. The Tribe owns and operates the Snoqualmie Casino in Snoqualmie, WA.

Tulalip’s larger annual donation to expand “Food for Thought” program

By Monica Brown, Tulalip Communications Department

Marysville Community Food Bank received a larger donation this year from The Tulalip Tribes. The $20,000 donation will benefit many people during these holiday seasons. Steve Gobin agreed,

“This is a larger than normal donation for us, but we understand that there’s a growing need in this community, the homeless population is growing every day. We’d like to help the citizens of Marysville who have been such big contributors to our own economic enterprises, and the most effective way of doing that is to help those in need stay alive, and to help their kids stay healthy.”

With a regular annual donation of $15,000 to the Marysville Community Food Bank, the extra $5,000 will contribute to the “Food for Thought” program, which began in May of 2012, to expand to three schools. As quoted in the Marysville Globe, Amy Howell, coordinator of the “Food for Thought” program, describes how the additional monies will benefit students at Liberty, Shoultes and Quil Ceda Elementary Schools

Amy Howell explains the process of how a child is included into the program, “They (the children) were chosen through input from their teachers, counselors, principal and lunchroom staff; their families sign permission slips to approve them for the program, and nobody above the school level knows which students they are, aside from the ones that I’ve met with personally, so nobody feels like they’re being singled out.”

With the impending addition of students from Shoultes and Quil Ceda, 25 from each school and 30 students from Liberty who are already served by the program, Howell has already met her enrollment goal for the spring of 2013, and is eager to serve more students who would otherwise go hungry between the close of school one day and the opening of school the next day. The “Food for Thought” program helps to relieve childhood hunger by providing nutritious weekend meals to students during the school year.

Marysville Community Food Bank Director Dell Deierling, as quoted from the Marysville Globe, explained that the regular donation of $15,000 will go towards “filling in the gaps” of needed food items and utility payments for the winter holiday season, from Thanksgiving through Christmas and the New Year.

“The community has done an awesome job of keeping donations coming,” Deierling said. “The Tulalip Tribes have been our biggest donors since our current building was built.”

Quil Ceda Village General Manager Steve Gobin credited both the Marysville and Tulalip communities with placing a shared value on the importance of charitable giving.

Donations may be made out to Marysville Community Food Bank and sent to P.O. Box 917, Marysville, WA 98270. If you would like to designate your funds specifically for “Food For Thought,” please write in the memo line of your check the program you wish to support. Donations may also be made online at http://marysvillefoodbank.org via PayPal.