Canku Ota

(Many Paths)

An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America

November 15, 2003 - Issue 100

Morongo Tribe Brings Thanksgiving Early to Fire Evacuees

Riverside, CA., November 3, 2003 - Thanksgiving is coming early this year to fire-ravaged Southern California as leaders and members of the Morongo Band of Mission Indians deliver thousands of hot turkey dinners to evacueesat one of the largest Red Cross shelters in the region.

The gift of food by tribal members is only the beginning. Morongo Tribal Chairman Maurice Lyons also announced that the tribe is donating one million dollars to the Riverside County Chapter of the American Red Cross. It is the largest contribution in the tribe's history.

"We come here today as volunteers and neighbors," Chairman Lyons told the families that have been driven from their homes by the one of the worst fire disasters in California history. "Indian people know what it means to lose one's home. Sharing this gift of food, from our Indian family to yours, is part of our tradition, extending back to the first Thanksgiving."

Chairman Lyons and members of the Morongo Tribal Council were joined at the event by local leaders and elected officials including: Congressman Jerry Lewis, State Senate Minority Leader Jim Brulte, State Senators Jim Battin and Ray Haynes, Assembly Members Russ Bogh, Bob Dutton and Dennis Hollingsworth, Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley and San Bernardino County Supervisor Dennis Hansberger.

The Morongo tribe has been providing turkeys at Thanksgiving to families in need throughout California for the past decade. Their turkey giveaway is one of the largest in the state. Last year the Morongo tribe delivered 1,300 turkeys to residents of Riverside County and 2,000 more in California enabling thousands of Thanksgiving meals to be served to those in need. This year's special effort on behalf of the evacuees represents a massive expansion of that program.

The million-dollar donation from the Morongo Band will be used by the Riverside County Chapter of the American Red Cross in its local preparedness and disaster relief efforts on behalf of the residents of Riverside County. The Morongo reservation is also located in Riverside County.

Local chapters of the American Red Cross have been forced to draw on funds from the national organization to meet the fire emergency. Overall, the relief effort throughout Southern California is projected to cost the American Red Cross an estimated three million dollars.

"We are deeply grateful that our tribal gaming has enabled us to help our neighbors in this way," said Chairman Lyons. "The voters of California, when they approved tribal gaming, expected it to help strengthen Indian communities. But in fact, it is doing that and more, producing benefits for the entire region."

In accepting the million dollar donation from the tribal leaders, Scott Kiner, American Red Cross Riverside County Chapter board member, remarked on the Morongo Band's long record of generosity and community service: "The Morongo Tribe's commitment to enhancing the quality of life in all our communities never stops. Month by month, year after year, their generosity benefits organizations and community groups large and small."

Volunteers from the Morongo tribe will be delivering hot turkey lunches to other shelters in the region throughout the coming week. The tribe will also continue to serve daily hot breakfasts for more than 1,200 adults and children at the shelter in San Bernardino. Overall, the Morongo have pledged to contribute $250,000 in food for the evacuees.

The donations of cash and food are part of a larger program the Morongo Band has launched in response to the fires. They are joining with other tribes to provide relief to Indian tribes who were driven from their homes by the devastation.

Arrowhead Mountain Spring Water Company, which has a major bottling plant on the Morongo Indian Reservation, has been delivering water drawn from the tribe's natural springs to firefighters and evacuees throughout Southern California.

Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley noted this early Thanksgiving was taking place at a time when the fires themselves are subsiding. "Everyone in Southern California has suffered a terrible ordeal. As we share this food, we should be mindful of all that has been lost, but grateful too that the danger seems to have passed. The process of rebuilding can now begin."

About the Morongo Band of Mission Indians
The Morongo tribe operates one of the largest and oldest Indian government gaming facilities in California. As a direct result of the gaming operation's success, the Morongo tribe has eliminated welfare dependency on the reservation. The tribe now pays for a wide range of its community services including water storage and distribution systems, waste management, road maintenance, public safety, college education funding, recreational facilities, Headstart program assistance and more. The Morongo tribe is the largest private sector employer in the Banning-Beaumont region and a major contributor to the Coachella Valley economy. The tribe presently employs approximately 2,000 people in gaming and non-gaming tribal operations.

Yona Kweskin
Burson-Marsteller

Yona_Kweskin@sdg.bm.com

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