Catawba Indian Nation provides grants to benefit local nonprofits

Three local nonprofits will be receiving thousands of dollars in grant money from the Catawba Indian Nation through funds generated by the Two King's Casino in Kings Mountain.

The board of directors of the Catawba Indian Nation Foundation approved its first slate of grants at a June board meeting. A total of $800,000 in grants were allocated for 2024.

The board also approved an annual calendar to include a window for receiving grant requests from nonprofit organizations. The next window will be April 1 through May 31, 2025.

“Creating a positive impact on the quality of life for Catawba members and the larger community is the focus of the

foundation’s philanthropy,” said Catawba Nation Chief Brian Harris. “This first slate of grants awarded reflect the

purpose outlined in the Compact and our values of collaboration, ethical stewardship and responsiveness.”

This year' grant recipients include nonprofits in both Catawba and Cleveland counties.

The Cleveland County recipients are:

Cleveland Community College Foundation ($95,000)

Cleveland County Arts Council ($20,000)

Cleveland County Schools Educational Foundation ($95,000)

Additional projects receiving financial support are a dissertation project focused on improving access to talent

development in school ($12,000) and an indigenous lands mapping project ($18,000), both being conducted by

members of the Catawba Nation.

The Catawba Indian Nation Foundation Inc. was established as part of the Nation’s 2021 Compact with the State of

North Carolina. It is funded from proceeds generated by the nation’s Catawba Two Kings Casino, which has operated in

a temporary facility in Kings Mountain since July 2021. To date, the foundation has received $2 million from the casino,

including the most recent annual $1 million payment March 1 of this year.

The foundation’s articles of incorporation were certified on Feb. 27 by North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine F.

Marshall. That followed North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s appointment of 10 members of the Foundation’s 12 member

board of directors in November of 2023. The other two board members are Catawba Nation Chief Brian Harris and

Assistant Chief Patricia Leach, who are serving as board chair and vice chair of the foundation.The Catawba Indian Nation Foundation’s objectives as detailed in the Compact are:

▪ Enhance the long-term success of the casino and the development of the Catawba Indian Nation lands.▪ Protect, preserve, and enhance the ancestral lands of the Catawba Indian Nation (and particularly the Catawba River) in proximity to the Catawba Indian Nation lands through the acquisition of conservation easements and other real property interests.▪ Implement other conservation measures to enhance the Catawba River.▪ Assist in economic development for public services, recreation, entertainment, and community economic development, and foster employment opportunities on or near Catawba Indian Nation lands.▪ Educate local children and federally and State-recognized Indian tribe children in the classroom.▪ Provide educational scholarships for citizens of the Catawba Indian Nation and other federally and State-recognized Indian tribes within North Carolina.▪ Fund high school internships for citizens of the Catawba Indian Nation involved in the preservation of ancestral lands of the Catawba Indian Nation or the Catawba River.▪ Preserve, research, study, and restore the history, tradition, culture, language, arts, crafts and heritage of the Catawba Indian Nation through programs and activities based on the Catawba Indian Nation lands.

In addition to approving the slate of initial grants and an annual calendar for grantmaking, the board also discussed

the recruitment of an executive director to lead the foundation. The foundation is seeking a chief administrator to join

the organization in fall 2024 to participate in the design of grantmaking efforts and continued build-out of the staffing

structure. Charlotte based Next Stage is assisting in the design and implementation of the first year of operations,

including sourcing candidates for the executive director role .

Additional efforts are underway to build a brand identity and communication strategy for the foundation, including a

website that will include information about how to apply for support.

The website is expected to be in place by the end of 2024, ahead of the grant request window opening in the second

quarter of 2025. It is requested that all future submissions of applications for support from the foundation be made

starting on April 1, 2025.

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Catawba Indian Nation provides grants to benefit local nonprofits