The Northwest Area Foundation has awarded nearly $2.5 million to a Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe group in support of its plan to reduce poverty on the central South Dakota reservation.

In a release, the foundation said its the second grant to Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Ventures.

The foundation says its first $2.5 million grant, in March 2006, funded individual, family and community development; community capacity building and economic development.

The organization says eight learning centers were created that provide education and tribal services in remote regions of the 2.8 million-acre reservation.

Also, the foundation says more than 200 students enrolled in GED programs.