GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) - The Montana Community Foundation launched a fund on Wednesday to assist Native Americans who are looking for their missing loved ones.
While Native Americans consist of just 6.7% of Montana’s population, they account for on average of 26% of the state’s active cases for missing people, the Great Falls Tribune reported.
Whitney Williams, who established the Snowbird Fund, said that many Indigenous families are forced to organize their own searches without outside help when a family member or friend goes missing.
“They mostly had to go at it alone and Montanans know that’s not right,” Williams said. “Montana families need our help. And in a small way, we are hoping to fill a little bit of a gap here.”
Williams and other donors contributed $50,000 each to the fund. The grants, which provide $500 payments, will help families pay for gas, hotels, meals, awareness campaigns, metal detectors, drones and other goods or services related to the search effort. The grants can also be used to host a community vigil. Recipients will not have to pay taxes on the grants, the Tribune reported.
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