Palmer Community Foundation Distributes $20,000 in Grants for Hyper-Local Needs

Carmen Davis, ACF’s director of affiliates, says each community fund grows its own “forever fund” or endowment. People in Palmer, for example, make contributions to PCF, and their funds stay in PCF forever; only the earnings of the endowment are used by PCF for grantmaking each year.

“We really believe in localized decision-making. We think that the local people know best where those grant funds will be useful,” Davis explains.

Palmer-Focused Funding

In May, PCF announced its 2025 grant distribution, which includes $20,109 to seven charitable organizations and programs in its coverage area, which includes greater Palmer and the Matanuska River Watershed region. The largest grant, $5,000, goes to Palmer Arts Council’s “Art for Fun” program, which offers diverse weekly art classes to teens between the ages of 13 and 18 to help fill the gap left by cuts to school arts programming and provide a creative outlet.

The Mat-Su Ski Club received a $4,400 grant to replace unsafe picnic tables at Government Peak Recreation Area, to provide a safe community gathering space for the thousands of residents who use the trails year-round.

Friends of the Palmer Public Library received a $3,588 grant to replace an early literacy computer station that was lost during the 2023 roof collapse.

Mat-Su Sentinel received $2,146 for photography equipment to help improve the visual quality and reach of local nonpartisan news coverage.

Alaska Wildlife Alliance, in collaboration with Alaska Trappers Association, will use $2,000 from PCF to place signage at thirteen trailheads in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to alert users to new trap setback regulations. The signage aims to make outdoor spaces safer for trail users and their pets while also maintaining access for trappers.

Nature-focused, adventure-based school Onward and Upward received $1,975 for new CPR mannequins to allow the organization to certify at least fifty students each year in CPR skills. The mannequins will also be available for other local organizations to conduct CPR skills training.

Finally, a $1,000 grant to Forget Me Not Quilters of Alaska supports the creation of handmade quilts awarded to local veterans through the national Quilts of Valor Foundation. The quilts symbolize recognition of the courage and valor of the veterans’ service.

“We are inspired by the important work being accomplished in our community by this year’s applicants and are grateful to our supporters for helping us fund projects year after year,” says Saunders McNeill, chair of the PCF advisory board.

Statewide Scholarships, Summer Camps

ACF recently announced its own release of two types of grants—$1.3 million for 134 scholarships for Alaskans attending secondary school and $755,000 that will benefit forty organizations and more than 21,000 children attending summer camps this year.

“The scholarship cycle just completed,” says ACF President and CEO Alex McKay. “All of the applications are reviewed by volunteers—people who live here, come from different walks of life, and really understand what opportunity can mean for these young people. Our team helps make it happen, but the heart of the process is local, which makes it so meaningful.”

The summer camp grant opportunity, McKay explains, is available to nonprofit summer camp operators through The Camp Initiative, launched three years ago by Rasmuson Foundation and now supported in partnership with Mat-Su Health Foundation, the George and Stephanie Suddock Foundation, and other generous Alaskan donors. The initiative helps make summer enrichment programs more accessible and affordable for youth across the state.

“Camp is such an essential part of growing up in Alaska, and every kid should have that chance,” says McKay. “These grants help more kids across the state build confidence, connect with others, and experience the outdoors—and those kinds of lessons stay with them for life.”