Representatives from 37 community groups gathered with Community Fund board members and Tribal leaders at the 2005 Coquille Tribal Community Fund awards luncheon.

In 2001, the Coquille Tribal Council established the Coquille Tribal Community Fund in order to share profits from its business ventures, particularly The Mill Casino • Hotel, with the surrounding community. The Fund gives the Tribe a means to target its charitable efforts toward projects that will make a clear difference for daily life in the Bay Area and the southwest Oregon region.

In its first year of operation, the Fund received 17 applications and provided about $80,000 to eight social service programs in Coos, Douglas and Lane Counties. These included the Pacific Center for Children and Families, the North Bend High School Stadium Committee, the Empire Sports Park Committee and the Center for Indigenous Cultural Survival.

It didn't take long for the community to notice. In only its second year, the Fund received 42 applications and distributed over $140,000 in project grants. By 2004, the Fund expanded its scope of operations to include a five-county region as grants of over $210,000 were provided to 35 organizations, and 37 grants totaling more than $400,000 were provided the following year. In January 2006, the grant program passed the half-million mark as 55 non-profit organizations shared $514,205. In 2007, $634,138 was awarded to 56 organizations. This year $685,725 was granted to 36 organizations.

In its first seven years, the Coquille Tribal Community Fund has provided almost $2.6 million to improve life throughout southwest Oregon.

A seven-member Board of Trustees governs the Coquille Tribal Community Fund. To meet the CTCF Trustees, click here.