Summit Daily File Photo
FRISCO — The Summit Foundation, Summit County’s largest local philanthropic organization, has announced the distribution of nearly $1.03 million in grants to 58 local nonprofits during its end-of-year grant cycle.
The Summit Foundation awarded grants based on the contributions the organizations made to one of the foundation’s four “impact areas”: healthy and safe communities, bright futures, arts and culture, and environmental stewardship.
In a news release, foundation officials said the grants will fund a plethora of community projects, including renovations for Francie’s Cabin, ski and snowboard programs for local at-risk youths, child advocacy, disaster relief and support for local theater programming. The grants were made possible by more than 3,000 donations from businesses and individuals, according to the release.
Five grants also were awarded in partnership with Vail Resorts’ EpicPromise foundation to Breckenridge Montessori, High Country Conservation Center, Lake Dillon Preschool, Summit County Preschool and Timberline Learning Center.
Among the grantees are the Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance and the Family & Intercultural Resource Center.
Wilderness Alliance board member and former chairman Bill Betz said the $10,500 grant his organization received will go toward building a boardwalk across a wetland on the Mesa Cortina trail near the Wildernest neighborhood. Betz said the boardwalk will honor the memory of Beau Schuette, a Mesa Cortina resident who died unexpectedly in 2017.
Schuette’s family, which Betz said has owned a cabin in Mesa Cortina for over 50 years, also has raised some money on their own to do something to honor his memory.
“This combination of funds will help build a boardwalk across a wet area of the Mesa Cortina trail,” Betz said. “During wet seasons, people try to get around the wet area and wind up creating social trails all around it. That gets messy and degrades the quality of the hiking experience.”
The boardwalk is expected to be built by summer 2021 with a collaboration between the U.S. Forest Service and Rocky Mountain Youth Corps and the Dillon Ranger District supervising.
Family & Intercultural Resource Center Director Brianne Snow said her organization received $107,000 for its mission to help working families in Summit County. Snow said the grant will go a long way toward filling gaps in funding for existing and emerging community needs in three core areas of parenting support, early childhood services and food assistance.
“We couldn’t serve the families that we do without (The Summit Foundation),” Snow said.