Coquille Tribe Community Fund, Feb. 27

News release from the Tribe.  Forty-four community organizations collected nearly $362,000 on Friday (Feb. 24) from the Coquille Tribal Community Fund, in the Coos Bay area’s biggest annual distribution of community grants. “To know that we can help so many people is gratifying,” said Denise Hunter, a tribal elder who chairs the Community Fund’s board of trustees. “I feel blessed to be a part of it.”The fund was created in 2001 to share profits from The Mill Casino-Hotel and other tribal ventures. Since then it has awarded nearly $5.9 million for a wide variety of projects and programs. This year’s grantees included food banks; programs serving children and the elderly; theater restoration projects; cultural events; and many others. The grants were distributed at a luncheon Friday at The Mill. A complete list of this year’s grants is below. More information about the fund is at www.coquilletribalfund.org. The application process for next year’s grants will begin Sept. 1.