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NIGA Launches Charity Campaign For Native Youth

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – (PRESS RELEASE) -- The National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA) today announced an ambitious charitable fundraising campaign that will donate $10 million to two organizations benefiting Indian youth. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Indian Country and the American Indian College Fund will each receive $5 million. The announcement came at NIGA's 15 th Annual Trade Show and Membership Meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

"These two organizations play crucially important roles to children growing up in Indian Country," said NIGA's Chairman Ernie Stevens, Jr. "I know, from personal experience, what the Boys and Girls Clubs can bring to a young person's life on the reservation." He continued, "When it is time to go to college, the American Indian College Fund is there to help. I am proud that we have designated these two great organizations as beneficiaries of our fundraising campaign and that we are joining hands today to help our Native American youth."

The campaign's kickoff got a major boost from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Minnesota which today announced that it will donate $1 million to the Boys and Girls Clubs in Indian Country and $900,000 to the American Indian College Fund.

"Anytime that we can support efforts to help our children, it is important to seize the opportunity," said Shakopee Chairman Stanley Crooks. "To ensure our sovereignty and to ensure the health of our tribes, we need to have our children get good educations so that they will be able to come back to the reservation, work with the tribe, and support their families."

Chairman Stevens challenged other tribes to follow the lead set by the Shakopee Community. "Indian Country is filled with generosity. We know this goal is ambitious, but we believe we will reach it."

Boys and Girls Clubs in Indian Country's mission to inspire and enable all young people especially those from disadvantaged circumstances to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens. The Clubs provide Indian youth with a myriad of services including athletic programs, career and health counseling, and afterschool activities.

The American Indian College Fund, established in 1989, distributes scholarships to 32 tribal colleges in 11 states. This aid directly supports more than 6000 scholarships each year and helps thousands of Indian families send their children to college and to graduate school.

The National Indian Gaming Association is a nonprofit trade association comprised of 184 American Indian nations and other nonvoting associate members. The common commitment and purpose of NIGA is to advance the lives of Indian people – economically, socially and politically. NIGA operates as a clearinghouse and educational, legislative and public policy resource for tribes, policymakers and the public on Indian gaming issues and tribal community development.

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