Major Community Project Grant Program

The Major Community Project Fund at Whitefish Community Foundation is dedicated to helping nonprofit organizations complete capital projects that will have a significant and positive effect on communities in the Flathead Valley. Grants are normally $10,000 and up. Since the inception of the fund in 2010, $704,000 has been awarded to projects selected by the Whitefish Community Foundation Board of Directors.

2022 major community project grant awardees

Whitefish Community Foundation awarded a $20,000 grant to Housing Whitefish to help the organization hire its first staff member and begin planning an affordable housing project.

Housing Whitefish is a nonprofit organization founded in 2020 to acquire, create and maintain permanently affordable housing in the greater Whitefish area and to educate and advocate for low- and moderate-income persons. To date, the organization has been run entirely by volunteers.

Earlier this year, Whitefish residents Mark and Robyn Jones committed $1 million to the planning and design of an affordable housing project to be led by Housing Whitefish. The couple committed $20,000 of this funding to support the hiring of the organization’s first staff person. Their gift, along with a $20,000 grant from Whitefish Community Foundation and additional monies from Whitefish CVB, will help fund the hiring of a full-time executive director and associated start-up costs.

“We recognize that it is essential to hire an executive director for the organization as soon as possible to stave off any more delays in helping relieve part of our community’s housing crisis,” Housing Whitefish Board Chair Katie Williams said. “Hiring a full-time executive director who will take the lead in fundraising, advocacy and planning efforts will expand Housing Whitefish’s capacity to achieve our mission.”

Whitefish Community Foundation awarded a $25,000 grant to Land to Hand to support the relocation of the organization’s building next to the Wildcat Garden at Columbia Falls Junior High School. The grant was made possible by members of the Whitefish Community Foundation’s Circle of Giving and other donors who support the Major Community Project Fund.

Land to Hand (formerly known as Farm Hands – Nourish the Flathead) is a nonprofit organization that provides Flathead Valley residents with access to fresh, local food through the organization’s Food for All Programs, including fruit and vegetables grown at the Wildcat Garden. Land to Hand also administers Double Snap Dollars and Senior Coupons and provides Columbia Falls school children with healthy snacks on the weekends and during school closures through its Backpack Enhancement Program. The new location serves as the ideal place for Land to Hand to offer gardening and healthy cooking programs for children, as well as to store, stage, and deliver food to those in need.

“We are so honored for the support and advocacy of Whitefish Community Foundation,” Land to Hand Executive Director Gretchen Boyer said. “This major grant will allow us to bring our food access programs and our Farm to School Program together.”

Three Rivers EMS

$15,000 for ambulance cardiac monitors
2020