The Sitka Legacy Foundation on Wednesday (10-23-19) distributed just over $16,000 in grants to local nonprofits, during the regular luncheon meeting of the Sitka Chamber of Commerce. 13 organizations in all received funding, averaging around $1,000 per organization. The foundation this year received requests from 18 nonprofits totaling over $33,000.
In a news release, SLF chair Mike Venneberg said, “Every single one of the applications we received this year were for fantastic projects to benefit our community.” He added, “We wish that we could have funded them all.”
Just six years old, the SLF now has in excess of $500,000 in assets. The rapid growth of the fund is due to the participation of the Rasmuson Foundation and the Alaska Community Foundation, which over the last three years have matched all contributions to the SLF up to $125,000. The matching plan will be in place for one final year in 2020.
Here’s a complete list of 2019 Sitka Legacy Foundation grant recipients:
• Alaska Arts Southeast, $1,000 for financial aid for Sitka students to attend Sitka Fine Arts Camp
• Betty Eliason Child Care Center, $1,000 for toddler classroom furniture
• Brave Heart Volunteers, $1,000 to support the companionship program
• Catholic Community Service, $2,000 to support meals program at Swan Lake Senior Center
• Friends of Sitka Circus Arts, $500 to support youth scholarships
• Hames Center/Alaska Arts Southeast, $1,500 to support teen nights
• Mt. Edgecumbe Preschool, $1,000 to support an intergenerational music program in partnership with
the Pioneer Home
• Raven Radio Foundation, $1,575 to replace live coverage equipment
• Sitka Homeless Coalition, $1,470 to support purchase of tent cots and blankets for a new men’s
winter shelter
• Sitkans Against Family Violence, $2,000 to support home goods and household supplies for the
renovated shelter
• Southeast Alaska Independent Living (SAIL), $1,000 to support the independent living program for
Sitka elders and residents with disabilities
• The Salvation Army, $1,500 to support the Sitka food pantry
• The Uncommon Music Festival, $500 to support Conversations with Whales: Facing Ecological
Change as a Community
