Yellowstone Club Community Foundation

Yellowstone Club Foundation Encourages Support of Warren Miller Performing Arts Center

cschwartz — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:06:16 +0000

Resort Tax Appropriations Meeting Wednesday, May 9 at 1:00

The Big Sky Resort Tax Board has approximately $3.5 million in requests to allocate to community applicants this year—and only around $2.2 to $2.4 million in the coffers. Where should you throw your support?

YCCF Executive Director Casey Schwartz and her board face many of these same issues themselves as many of the same local organizations apply to both YCCF and the Resort Tax for funding. As a nonprofit that helps existing entities and projects extend their missions (as opposed to the Resort Tax, which will fund new projects from the ground up) Schwartz says her nod would go to many of the applicants, but especially to the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center for reasons central to the YCCF mission.

“In our short history, we’ve given quite a bit of funding to the arts: Opera, Shakespeare in the Parks, the Classical Music Festival, Big Sky Broadway, vocal and strings classes at the school—even the first pep band,” says Schwartz. “And while we can help these groups with their operational costs, many are limited by their access to a dedicated venue. This one-time resort allocation this year could change all that.”

Schwartz also appreciates that the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center is not relying exclusively on resort tax funds, but has actively raised a million dollars in private funds already.

“We understand that there are many worthy causes before the board,” says Schwartz. “But this is a unique opportunity to fund a project that can be completed and operational before the next tax cycle and which will benefit so many community organizations the Resort Tax (and YCCF) already support—The Arts Council, the Big Sky School District, and more. “

Yellowstone Club Foundation Announces Winner of David Mueller Scholarship

cschwartz — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 04:31:11 +0000

Twelve-year old Jackson Wade, of Big Sky, will spend a week on a remote Canadian island this summer learning the ins and outs of deep-sea fishing as the second recipient of the David Mueller Outdoor Experience Award.
Wade’s application caught the attention of the selection committee because it was “thoughtful and insightful,” according to Yellowstone Club Executive Director Casey Schwartz, and because “we agree that Dave Mueller would have loved the opportunity to explore and fish this remote island.”
Wade, who has grown up in Big Sky enjoying all aspects of the outdoors, says he applied for the funds to go to Lama Pass Fishing Resort because while most people would consider his home town somewhat remote, he’d like to kick it up a notch.
“You have to fly there, and then take a three hour boat ride and then drive for a half-hour more,” he explains. “You are totally experiencing a remote part of the world I’ve never seen, a part that is really natural: You waking up with birds singing in your ears.”
Jackson first heard of the experience from a classmate at Ophir, whose family owns the resort. His friend’s description of learning how to deep sea fish, and navigate open water was immediately compelling to Wade, who has grown up fishing the Gallatin just a stone’s throw from his canyon home.
“I want to learn how to be safe in a boat and the ocean, and get an opportunity to learn navigation skills by map reading and a compass,” Jackson wrote in his application. “I would also like to gain some independence and self-reliance by gathering wood and cleaning fish by myself.”
There were many more applicants for the memorial award this year, says Schwartz, and the choice wasn’t easy. “But Jackson’s communication skills, and excellent references, really set him apart.”
The annual award, which is open to children from 12 to 18 and gives preference to local applicants, offers one scholarship annually of up to $5,000. Last year’s recipient was Griffin House, who used the funds to attend a National Outdoor Leadership trip.
Sam Byrne, a Yellowstone Club member, established and funded the award following the untimely death of Dave Mueller. The award is administered through the Yellowstone Club Community Foundation.

Yellowstone Club Members Use Foundation To Help Local Kids

cschwartz — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 22:24:04 +0000

Anyone who has a strategically placed vacation home near the slopes knows that house-guests come with the territory, and with them, the requisite houseguest gift.

But rather than simply filling the wine cellar, the Hall family of Philadelphia and Big Sky decided to ask their guests to help local kids instead. These YC members asked their guests to write checks to the Yellowstone Club Community Foundation, which in turn used the money to support the school’s 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C.

To read more about how the Halls contribute to the local kids and school, check out:

http://www.lonepeaklookout.com/news/article_4153d12c-7db2-11e1-9179-0019bb2963f4.html

Grant Application Deadlines Changed To May 1, Nov. 1

cschwartz — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 16:53:52 +0000

If your organization has already gotten your grant application to the Yellowstone Club Community Foundation for the spring funding cycle, you are now ahead of the game. And if your organization thought you were too late to apply for this spring-you are in luck.

In order to align with internal accounting, and to make things easier for grant applicants, the new funding cycle deadlines for the Foundation will be May 1 and November 1, according to Executive Director Casey Schwartz.

“We hope these new deadlines will make things easier for our grant applicants,” says Schwartz, who says funding decisions will be announced this spring just after June 1.

Funding Offers Essential Nourishment For Food Bank

cschwartz — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 02:58:15 +0000

Executive Director Casey Schwartz Receives Food Bank Award

Yellowstone Club Foundation Receives First-Ever Nourishing Community Award

Each weekend, 600 kids in 12 Gallatin Valley Schools go home from school without having to worry about being hungry due in large part to the generosity of the Yellowstone Club Community Foundation and its support of the KidsPack program. This outreach sends kids at risk of food insecurity with a discrete backpack of food each Friday. In recognition of this essential support, YCCF received one of the food bank’s first ever Nourishing Community Awards for its assistance in building the food bank’s capacity and reach.

“The funding from YCCF literally increases the capacity of what we are able to do,” explains Lori Christenson, Program Director of the GVFB. “Instead of simply continually fundraising, we can spend time finding ways to be more efficient and effective, and to grow what we do.”

Specifically, the GVFB has been able to reach twice as many children due to YCCF funding, and to partner with MSU Health and Human Development to look at the cost/benefits of the program and undertake nutritional analysis of the Kid Pack Program.

In presenting the award, the Food Bank specifically pointed out how important the YCCF’s long-term commitments from its members have been to the program. “YCCF is a critical partner for us,” said Christenson. “The program might not even exist without their support.”