December 04, 2010

Shakopee Mdewakanton win philanthropy award

SMSC Honored with Prestigious National Award for Philanthropy

By Tessa LehtoThe Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community was honored with a Jefferson Award for philanthropy at the Celebrate Twin Cities awards reception on December 1, 2010, at the St. Paul Hotel. SMSC Vice-Chairman Glynn A. Crooks accepted the award on behalf of the Community. From the 12 regional winners selected over the past year, the SMSC was chosen as the overall national winner for 2010 from this region.

Over the past 13 years, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community has donated more than $192.7 million to charitable organizations, Indian Tribes, and Native American organizations. The SMSC has also made more than $389 million in loans to other tribes for economic development projects.

According to a statement provided by the Business Journal, “In 1972 Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Senator Robert Taft, Jr., and Sam Beard founded the Jefferson Awards for Public Service to establish a ‘Nobel Prize’ for public community service.
Comment:  For more on Native awards, see First Drum Awards Announced and KCET and San Manuel Announce Awards. For more on Native philanthropy, see Indians = Philanthropists, Not Socialists.

No comments: