Thank you for supporting new educational opportunity
Veterans For Peace (Chapter 100) would like to extend a huge thank you to the Juneau Community Foundation’s Lingle Fund and Douglas-Dornan Fund for awarding grants to support Point Hope: Alaska’s Youth Congress for the Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons (www.akhopecongress.org). This intensive weeklong youth congress will be held at Sitka Fine Arts Camp from April 6-10, 2020. Up to 40 high school students from across Alaska, and from the nuclear-impacted countries of Russia, Kazakhstan, Japan and the Marshall Islands, will be invited to participate. The grants provided by JCF will be used to provide housing and meals for six students from Southeast Alaska to attend the youth congress, and to support general operations of the project.
The first of its kind to be held in Alaska, Point Hope is a unique educational opportunity for Alaskan students, and we are grateful to JCF for helping to make it possible!
Shelby Surdyk,
Project coordinator for Veterans For Peace, Ch. 100
Thank you for helping to ‘unmask disability’
Southeast Alaska Independent Living (SAIL) would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to the community of Juneau for making our Nov. 2 banquet and fundraiser a wild success! This year’s theme of “Unmasking Disability” proved moving as more than $43,000 was raised to support seniors and people with disabilities throughout Southeast Alaska.
Claire Richardson was once again fabulous as our MC, Sen. Jesse Kiehl was our most spirited auctioneer, and Sioux Douglas’ eye for elegance provided the perfect evening décor. Thank you to Ed Seitaan Kunz for the evening’s welcome, to Jim Noel and Ceann Murphy for the wonderful musical interludes, and to Glacier Photo Booth for bringing the fun!
A special thank you to our headline sponsors: media support from the Juneau Empire, Alaska Grafix, the Juneau Radio Center and Goldtown Nickelodeon; auction donations from Alaska Airlines, Holland America Lines, Alaska Seaplanes, Wings Airways, and Allen Marine Tours’ Alaska Dream Cruises; and to First Bank for kicking off their 1:1 matching campaign for cash donations made to SAIL this holiday season.
Of course, our annual gala would not be a success without the more than 100 Juneauites and businesses who baked delicious desserts and donated many fine items for auction. And we can’t forget our volunteers: Juneau-Douglas Yadaa.at Kalé students, Frances Grant for help before and during the event, and Fu Bao Goldsberry for his extraordinary raffle ticket selling skills.
Finally, we want to thank the hundreds of Juneau residents who joined us to “Unmask Disability.” Thank for helping us honor Gale Vandor and David Ottoson with Rainbow Foods for their longstanding commitments to empowering individuals with disabilities while creating meaningful employment opportunities for people of all abilities.
To the many in our community who believe in SAIL’s mission, thank you for helping shed light on the contributions those with disabilities make in our communities each and every day. For lending your time, your voice and your money, thank you for your work to Inspire Personal Independence for seniors and people with disabilities!
Tristan Knutson-Lombardo,
SAIL Assistant Director
Food drive nets 12,000 pounds of donations
On Nov. 22, the Southeast Alaska Food Bank (SEAFB) conducted its 23rd annual Caring is Sharing Food Drive from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. at both IGA locations. This event is the largest food drive of the year for the SEAFB.
Tony deMelos at Super Bear IGA and Rick Wilson at Foodland IGA hosted and helped coordinate our annual food drive, in conjunction with the Juneau Radio Center, our largest sponsor, which broadcast live the entire day.
The food drive resulted in 12,000 pounds of donated food items from the citizens and businesses of Juneau to benefit the SEAFB. Many people also made generous monetary donations throughout the day.
Special thanks go out to the friendly and enthusiastic staff at both Super Bear IGA and Foodland IGA for hosting this magnificent annual event, and for making several large donations of food throughout the day.
The Juneau Radio Center promoted and participated in broadcasting the event again this year. The radio personalities and guests broadcasted throughout the day to discuss the issue of the one-in-seven individuals who struggle with food insecurity in our community.
We’d like to thank First Student Managers Kevin Hansen and Dean Blood for once again donating their school buses and drivers to us so that we could transport all of the donated food back to the Southeast Alaska Food Bank. With all of the volunteers who came to the Southeast Alaska Food Bank the next day to help us unload these donations, they made short work of offloading more than six tons of food in thirty minutes.
Last but not least, we would like to thank everyone who donated food or money to help make this year’s Caring Is Sharing food drive a success, and the outpouring of help and support from individuals who assisted us during the day was truly a blessing.
Because of Juneau’s generosity and support, our warehouse is once again well stocked and the Southeast Alaska Food Bank is better able to provide nutritious food options for those who are most at risk of going hungry in Southeast Alaska.
Dave Lefebvre, Board President
Chris Schapp, SEAFB Manager
