On Friday, January 31, the Cordova Community Foundation was delighted to announce our first two grant awards at the local Iceworm Festival Variety Show. Performing a skit, Advisory 
Board members, Allen Roemhildt and Jake Borst talked about the history of CCF and how we announced our founding on this very stage one year ago. They went on to explain how our grantmaking endowment fund will grow over time with donations from our community, as 5 year
-old Samuel Nuzzi pushed past on his balance bike. Inviting a call-and-repeat, Allen and Jake said, “Watch us grow!” and the audience replied, “Help us grow!” They continued to describe the endowment and how it is managed by the Alaska Community Foundation, allowing us to spend the interest on local grants as 10-year old Avery Reynolds pedaled by on her medium-sized bike. Allen and Jake shared that CCF has raised $230,00 this year, meeting our 1:1 match goals, then they repeated, 
“Watch us grow!” and the audience cheered, “Help us grow!” as CCF Program Manager Julie Reynolds wheeled past on her adult-sized bike, and corralled each of the bikes and riders behind the speakers.
Then, former AB member, Angela Butler, had the honor of calling on stage our two grant recipients. First, Karen Hallquist with Mt. Eccles Elementary School accepted a $1,000 grant to purchase youth survival suits for the water safety program, something very important in our coastal fishing town. Next, Debra Adams with Cordova High School accepted a $1,000 grant to help fund students traveling to New York City and Washington, DC with the Close-up program, so very vital for our students to learn about our government and meet their Representatives.
With our first year behind us and our first grants awarded, the Cordova Community Foundation is very excited for the coming year, to continue educating, fundraising, and supporting our town through leadership and nonprofit training opportunities. Sign up to receive our newsletter by entering your email in the purple sidebar on the left.