Cowlitz Indian Tribe receives Clark College Foundation Award for Excellence

CENTRAL PARK — The Cowlitz Indian Tribe was the recipient of the 2019-2020 Clark College Foundation Award for Excellence, the highest honor given by the foundation. The tribe was honored at the foundation’s annual Savoring Excellence gala, this year held virtually on Oct. 20. The tribe was given the award for their efforts to help student veterans at Clark College, who often are the first in their families to attend college and are low income. They are also at an increased risk of emotional and financial hardships, including domestic violence, homelessness, eviction, post-traumatic stress disorder, drug addiction and suicide. Getting resources to keep student veterans in college is a goal of the foundation. The Cowlitz Indian Tribe over the past few years has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Clark College Veterans Resource Center and other services at the college focused on providing students access to food. “Their funding is boosting emergency grant funding, counseling, outreach and recruitment, textbook support, tutoring and food assistance, so the Veterans Resource Center can be a promising pathway for (students) who dedicated themselves to serving our country,” a news release said. “The partnership with the Cowlitz Indian Tribe helps remind Clark College and Clark College Foundation of the obstacles and injustices Indigenous peoples have faced, while at the same time demonstrating the promising future they are building and their generosity of spirit.” Clark College Foundation is a self-governed nonprofit that assists Clark College through philanthropy.