Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation Awards $759K to Non-Profits

ROSEBURG, OR. — Dozens of people from Southern Oregon non-profits marched onto the stage at Seven Feathers Casino Resort on Tuesday to happily and graciously accept grants from the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation that will benefit their positive and uplifting work in the community.

The total amount of giving from the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation amounted to $759,230, and was distributed among 84 non-profit organizations in Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Coos, Klamath, Lane and Deschutes counties.

The Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation has now awarded over $26 million to regional non-profits since it was founded in 1997.

“There’s a harmony that comes with strong community and I think the group in this room is a great community,” said Carma Mornarich, Executive Director of the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation. “None of what has been achieved in our community here could have been done without all the members involved, which is all of you. That’s what solves problems, people working together.”

The Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation Board dedicated a significant portion of the funds during this grant session to basic needs such as food programs, recognizing those who help to support and feed families with fresh and nutritious meals.

“We are in awe at how you are able to stretch every dollar to unbelievable limits,” said Cow Creek Umpqua Tribal Chairman Carla Keene. “With rising energy and food prices, you deserve recognition for doing more and helping more people despite your tight budgets.”

The Josephine County Foundation received $10,000 to support their student-run community service programs that feed low-income students.

“[Some] of our families we support don’t have the capability to cook, they have no electricity,” said Josephine County Foundation Board Chair Frank Ault. “So we are cooking, preparing, and delivering 140 meals each week to the rural areas of Josephine County so that all of our students can come back to school healthy and ready to learn.”

The Sutherlin Oakland Emergency Food Pantry received $10,000 to provide support for their food box program in Douglas County.

“We are so grateful for this,” said Renee Thatcher, Executive Director of the food pantry. “We’ve had quite a growing need monthly. In the month of May, we served 683 people and we’re only open on Mondays and Wednesdays.”

The First Presbyterian Church of Medford received $12,000 for their Brown Bag Café program, which feeds the hungry and homeless four days a week.

“We thank Cow Creek for this, but not nearly as much as the people who get the lunches,” said a representative from First Presbyterian.

In addition to addressing basic needs, the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation awards non-profits that work to support children in crisis, develop and strengthen family relationships, and educate the community.

The non-profits who attended Tuesday’s event at Seven Feathers Casino Resort, owned by the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians, were attending the spring session of the Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation awards. The foundation makes awards twice per year, utilizing thousands of dollars generated from gaming at Seven Feathers Casino Resort for philanthropic giving in the Cow Creek Umpqua Tribal service area.

Seven Feathers Casino Resort sits in the heart of the Cow Creek Umpqua ancestral homelands, six miles from where Tribal leaders signed a treaty with the U.S. Government in 1853.