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Media Contact: Dina Horwedel, Public Education Director, 303-426-8900

San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Grants $100,000 to American Indian College Fund

Denver, Colo. — The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians located near Highland, Calif. renewed its commitment to American Indian education with a grant of $100,000 to the American Indian College Fund (the Fund) for scholarships benefiting Native students.

Fifty thousand dollars of the grant will be used for the Sovereign Nations Scholarship Fund Endowment (SNSFE). The SNSFE is a permanent endowment at the Fund which is supported by Indian nations, businesses, foundations, and individual donors. The SNSFE will provide scholarships to American Indian students in perpetuity, and are available to students of any Indian nation, major, undergraduate, graduate, or professional school who are attending either tribal colleges or mainstream universities. The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Scholarship will receive the other $50,000 of the grant, and will support tribal college students with scholarships.

This gift follows a gift of $100,000 last year from The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, and embodies the principle of American Indians reaching across tribal divisions to help others. "The continued commitment of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians embodies the long history of philanthropy among American Indians. In our cultures, a person's value was measured not by what they owned, but by what they gave away. In these hard economic times when people read about a greedy few in our nation, American Indians are leading the way and serving as role models with their spirit of generosity. The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians demonstrates that the value of philanthropy and sharing is still alive through their generous gift. This will make a difference in the lives of many American Indian students," Richard B. Williams, President and CEO of the American Indian College Fund, said.