Thunder Valley Casino owner makes donations to Placer nonprofits

2004 American City Business Journals Inc.

The Indian organization that  owns Thunder Valley Casino near Lincoln has donated a total of $255,000 to  Placer County nonprofits.

Beneficiaries of the United  Auburn Indian Community's newly established Community Giving Program included  Live Oak Waldorf School, Roseville Home Start Inc. and PEACE for Families.

Live Oak Waldorf School, which  the United Auburn Indian Community describes as offering "an education  that balances individual development with a sense of social  responsibility," will use the money to create a native and indigenous  herb and plant garden around a natural spring and willow grove on campus.

Roseville Home Start, a  transitional housing corporation working to keep intact homeless families  with children, will use the United Auburn Indian Community money for general  operating expenses.

Peace for Families, formerly  Placer Women's Center, is a private organization providing services for more  than 3,000 victims of domestic violence and sexual assault in Placer County.  The contribution from the United Auburn Indian Community will help fund the  building of a new emergency shelter that will include a children's play room  to be named after the tribe.

The tribe did not list  individual money amounts the recipients received, and it noted that several  other entities were given money.

The United Auburn Indian  Community formed the Community Giving Program in March to provide up to $1  million annually to nonprofit organizations working in education, health,  arts and humanities, environment, community development and social services.