TACOMA, WA – The Puyallup Tribe Charity Trust Board has awarded 43 local organizations a combined $600,000.
Representatives of more than 40 non-profit and charitable organizations were greeted and thanked by members of the Puyallup Tribal Council as they arrived for the celebration at the Emerald Queen Event Center in Tacoma. Tribal Council delivered remarks recognizing recipients and all attendees gathered for a group photo.
“We are here today to award non-profits in Washington that are working to make their communities better and that’s all of you,” said Puyallup Tribal Council Chairman Bill Sterud.
The donations are for the third quarter of 2023. They are funded from Emerald Queen Casino revenue as part of an agreement with the State of Washington that includes additional contributions for smoking cessation and problem gambling programs, and for impact costs paid to local governments for such things as fire and police services.
The Puyallup Tribe has donated more than $17 million to hundreds of local organizations through its Charity Trust Board over the past 10 years. The Puyallup Tribal Council has donated millions more out of its own budget to help community organizations ranging from the Fife Native American Education Program to the Daffodil Festival.
Casino operations are also the single biggest revenue source for the Puyallup Tribe’s government. They pay for comprehensive services to the tribe’s membership, including children’s services, housing, educational support, emergency assistance and funeral services. In the past two years, the tribe has embarked on an ambitious economic diversification program that will not only strengthen its economic base to bring security for future generations, but bring more jobs to the region.
The Charitable Trust Board has awarded donations to the follow organizations:
- Allen AME Church – $5,000
- Asia Pacific Culture Center – $20,000
- Bainbridge High School Girls Basketball Boosters – $20,000
- Communities in Schools of Peninsula – $2,500
- Crescent Heights Elementary – $10,000
- Diabetes Association of Pierce County – $2,000
- Emerald Ridge Lacrosse Club – $5,000
- Facing Homelessness – $10,000
- Fife Native American Education Program – $17,000
- First Baptist Church of Lakewood – $3,000
- Foundation for Edmonds School District – $20,000
- Friends of Pediatrics Northwest – $10,000
- Greater Lakes Mental Healthcare – $25,000
- Hilltop Artists in Residence – $6,000
- Huy – $5,000
- Kid Connect – $2,500
- Law Enforcement Youth Camp – $27,000
- League of Women Voters of Tacoma-Pierce County – $3,500
- Make a Wish Alaska & Washington – $10,000
- Mountain View Community Center – $10,000
- Multicultural Child & Family Hope Center – $35,000
- Native Action Network – $10,000
- Native American Church Qua-Utz – $14,000
- Northwest Indian College Tulalip Campus – $15,000
- Northwest Indian Housing Association – $5,000
- Northwest Junior Rodeo Association – $5,000
- Northwest Kidney Centers – $15,000
- Nourish Pierce County – $60,000
- Parkway Community Services – $25,000
- Pierce County Santa Cops – $10,000
- Pizza Klatch – $5,000
- Reach Ministries – $3,000
- Seattle Storm Foundation – $2,500
- ShareNet Food Bank – $10,000
- Sidewalk Rescue – $15,000
- South Sound Estuary Association – $1,000
- Sundance Circle Hippotherapy Foundation – $10,000
- Tacoma Youth Chorus – $5,000
- Truly Motivated Transitional Living – $12,000
- United Ways of the Pacific Northwest – $50,000
- Washington Explorer Search and Rescue Pierce County – $22,000
- Washington School Principals Education Foundation – $17,000
- Daffodil Festival / The Daffodilians – $40,000