2023 GREAT FISH COMMUNITY CHALLENGE PARTICIPATING NONPROFITS 

Use of Funds: Amazing Place Music produces and presents both locally and internationally known artists in concerts and educational musical events that enhance the community and inspire residents of the Flathead Valley.

Use of Funds: Backpack Assistance Program improves the wellbeing of school age community members in Whitefish and Olney-Bissell School Districts that are subject to food insecurity by providing nutritious supplemental food for weekends and school closure days.

Use of Funds: Funds raised during the Great Fish Community Challenge will provide children facing adversity in Flathead County with strong and enduring, professionally supported one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever.

Use of Funds: Your gift will help cultivate community as we Connect, Inspire, Educate and Preserve. Bigfork Art and Cultural Center provides equal access to learning and creating through the arts, which serve as a catalyst to share cultural perspectives and histories in this area of Montana.

Primary Use of Funds: Your donation will open trails and restore habitat in the spectacular 1.5-million-acre Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex by supporting hands-on service projects that foster lifelong connections to this landscape for volunteers of all ages.

Secondary Use of Funds: Additional funds raised will support the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation Endowment Fund at Whitefish Community Foundation, ensuring protection and care of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex for generations to come.

Use of Funds: Funds raised will support high-quality after-school programming for Columbia Falls students in grades K-12 in addition to operations and programming in Evergreen for youth in grades K-8.

Use of Funds: Funds raised will provide CASA/GAL Child Advocacy to foster children in Flathead County. This includes monitoring the child’s needs and well-being, as well as making recommendations to the court regarding the child’s best interests.

Use of Funds: CRYJ works with Flathead Valley teens, families, justice agencies, and school discipline teams to reduce youth involvement with the legal system, interrupt cycles of harm, repair trust, promote accountability, and foster community connections.

Primary Use of Funds: Hundreds of children in the Flathead Valley experience abuse and neglect, and there are not enough foster families to care for them. Your gift to Child Bridge will help find and equip families to care for children who are hurting and heartbroken.

Secondary Use of Funds: Additional funds raised will be placed in the Child Bridge Endowment Fund held at Whitefish Community Foundation.

Use of Funds: Children’s House Montessori School provides a nurturing, student-centered, early childhood education devoted to the intellectual, social, emotional and physical wellbeing of children.

Use of Funds: Funds will support Code Girls United’s mission to build confidence and expand future career opportunities for 4th–8th grade Montana girls through free, hands-on education in coding, technology, and business.

Use of Funds: Your donation will help to preserve and exhibit the 1895 Charles Conrad Family Estate through public tours, educational programs, and community events.

Use of Funds: Creston Firefighters Association is raising funds to build a new fire station to replace the existing station that was built in 1962. The goal is to build a new station without raising taxes or seeking levies.

Use of Funds: Funds raised will enhance the lives of individuals with disabilities including military veterans by providing over 1,250 yearround outdoor recreational opportunities, including skiing, snowboarding, Nordic skiing, biking, paddle boarding, kayaking, and motorized water sports.

Use of Funds: Your donation will help to preserve and advance mountain biking in the Flathead through professional trail building and maintenance efforts on public lands, trail advocacy for mountain biking and multi-use trails, and providing community mountain bike
skills clinics.

Use of Funds: Flathead Audubon seeks funds for its innovative K-12 and adult nature education programs, focusing on the beauty and value of birds to our ecosystem, community and culture, with school materials, videos, adult classes, presentations, field trips, and family events.

Use of Funds: Funds will enable Flathead County Sheriff’s Posse to support local law enforcement organizations by responding to emergency calls, providing a presence at public events, and hosting programs at the Posse building.

Primary Use of Funds: Funds raised will “lettuce” continue feeding our neighbors. From 2021 to 2022, the number of monthly pantry households served increased by 47%, including a 123% increase in unsheltered households and 103% increase in working households.

Secondary Use of Funds: Additional funds will support the Flathead Food Bank Endowment Fund held at Whitefish Community Foundation.

Primary Use of Funds: Flathead Industries strives to provide opportunities for those with disabilities. Funds raised will help make the kitchen and living room area in the Willow Glen Group Home more accessible for residents.

Secondary Use of Funds: Additional funds raised will support Flathead Industries’ mission to create opportunities for people with disabilities—residentially, vocationally, and recreationally.

Primary Use of Funds: Funds will help to purchase a conservation easement and permanently protect the Owen Sowerwine property along the Flathead River near Kalispell, safeguarding its critical bird and wildlife habitat, water quality, and access for the public.

Secondary Use of Funds: Additional funds raised will help implement effective land conservation strategies in the Flathead Valley and save our most important open space lands, outstanding fish and wildlife habitat, high quality farmland, and unsurpassed recreational opportunities.

Use of Funds: Flathead Rapids Youth Soccer is dedicated to providing our local communities with affordable, high-quality soccer programs that focus on player development as well as personal growth. Funds raised will support youth soccer programs in Columbia Falls.

Use of Funds: Flathead Rivers Alliance is dedicated to education, stewardship and community initiatives that support and enhance a resilient and healthy Three Forks of the Flathead River ecosystem, while ensuring people interact respectfully and responsibly.

Use of Funds: Funds raised will support the mission of the FVCC Foundation, which is to support scholarships, academic programs, and learning facilities at Flathead Valley Community College.

Use of Funds: FVSEF is dedicated to the promotion of athletic, academic, and personal excellence through educational and competitive programs in skiing and ski racing. FVSEF participants become better athletes, better students, and better citizens… For Life!

Use of Funds: Funds raised will help fulfill our mission to save lives, link people to resources, and encourage dignity through low-barrier access to a warm safe place for those in need.

Use of Funds: In a time when youth face big challenges, we are here to support them through their addiction, mental health struggles, and isolation. Your investment makes it possible to meet them in their place of pain and help them navigate the way to healing.

Primary Use of Funds: The mission of Foy’s to Blacktail Trails is to enhance and steward a multi-use, community-focused trail system and advocate for access and trail connectivity between Blacktail Mountain, Herron Park, and the greater Flathead Valley.

Secondary Use of Funds: Additional funds raised will support the Foy’s to Blacktail Trails Maintenance Endowment Fund held at Whitefish Community Foundation.

Use of Funds: Friends of the Flathead Avalanche Center provides financial and operational support for Flathead Avalanche, a daily forecasting center, and avalanche education hub. Our mission is to produce life-saving information for winter recreationists.

Use of Funds: Funds will be used to construct 10 miles of multi-use trail in Phase III of the Cedar Flats Trails project. The finished project will be 25+ miles of trails north of Columbia Falls, with four miles already completed and six miles slated for completion in 2023.

Use of Funds: Glacier Hockey Association provides quality hockey programs for youth in a fun, safe, and rewarding environment. We strive to enhance player development through local, state, and international opportunities while fostering a lifelong love for the game.

Use of Funds: Your gift supports Glacier Institute’s mission to strengthen connections to the natural world through outdoor education. With offerings for people of all ages, participants gain a new respect for the outdoors and why wild places matter.

Use of Funds: Funding will support Ranger-Led Education Programs through staffing, equipment, and supplies to conduct ranger-led field trips, classroom visits, and learning programs for K-12 students at schools throughout Flathead County.

Primary Use of Funds: Funds will support winter recreation and community health through youth programs, adult fitness, cross country ski education for all ages, affordable rentals, winter grooming, and trail maintenance.

Secondary Use of Funds: Additional funds raised will support the Glacier Nordic Club Endowment Fund held at Whitefish Community Foundation.

Use of Funds: Glacier Skate Academy fosters a lifelong love of ice skating and impacts the Flathead Valley community with fun, healthy, active, competitive, and affordable programs while motivating each skater, no matter what level or age, to achieve their goals.

Use of Funds: As one of the most active performing arts organizations in the Northwest, Glacier Symphony, Orchestra & Chorale provides a diverse range of excellent musical experiences in the Flathead Valley that inspire, challenge, and educate our musicians, audience, and students.

Use of Funds: At Good Grief Camp, a community of volunteers partner with children, teens, and families to navigate the journey of grief and the continuation of life by combining the healing elements of nature with activities to provide a safe outlet for the expression of their grief.

Use of Funds: Everyone needs a safe, decent place to call home. Every dollar donated will be used to construct safe, energy-efficient and affordable homes for deserving Flathead families. When YOU care and support Habitat, families and communities thrive.

Use of Funds: Funds raised will support the Hockaday Museum of Art’s mission to enrich the cultural life of our community and region and preserve the artistic legacy of Montana and Glacier National Park through innovative art exhibitions, programs, and events.