(November 16, 2023) — Since the Kalispel Tribe of Indians opened the doors of Northern Quest Resort & Casino in 2000, they have proudly donated more than $23 million to local non-profit organizations in Spokane and Pend Oreille Counties in the areas of social service, healthcare, education, arts & culture, and environmental conservation.
Food insecurity remains one of the top issues faced by people living on the Reservation and in surrounding communities. One of the Tribe’s longest relationships of giving is with 2nd Harvest Food Bank. For nearly 20 years, the Kalispel Tribe has donated more than a quarter-million dollars to this organization that provides food in our communities for more than 80,000 meals each day.
The Tribe works hard to build partnerships that will stand the test of time. In that spirit, the Tribe has contributed to two 2nd Harvest capital campaigns, one for construction of The Kitchen, where volunteers teach residents how to cook healthy meals with the items they receive from the food bank. The second helped fund the Kalispel Volunteer Center in the new Wolff Family Child Hunger Solution Center, where volunteers build Bite2Go kits for more than 7,000 at-risk children in local schools each week.
In 2023 alone, the Kalispel Tribe committed $75,000 to 2nd Harvest’s Building Healthier Communities through Food, which will help fund a new delivery van used to get the Bite2Go kits safely to dozens of local schools. Twice this year, nearly 50 Team Members from Northern Quest and the Kalispel Tribe have volunteered an afternoon to pack the Bite2Go kits that are sent home with at-risk kids on the weekends when they may otherwise not have adequate access to healthy foods. In addition, the Tribe donated $10,000 in matching funds for the annual 99.9 FM Coyote Country Jay & Kevin Food Drive for 2nd Harvest, which raised almost $50,000.