25 organizations applied for Lend a Hand.
Let's celebrate the power of community!
We are thrilled to announce that this year has seen an impressive response to our call for applications. A total of 25 organizations have submitted their applications, each sharing their unique visions and commitment to making a positive impact.
What's particularly exciting is that seven organizations have taken the step to apply for the first time. This reflects the growth of our program and the increasing dedication within our community to create meaningful change.
Below, we invite you to explore the diverse range of applications we've received this year. From longstanding partners to new faces, each organization brings a fresh perspective and innovative approach to bettering our community. We are grateful for their dedication and passion.
Mission: ASI's mission is to conserve Alaska's boreal birds through ecological research and education.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: If selected in 2024, Lend a Hand funds will provide scholarship funds to support students traditionally under-represented in science and conservation to participate in ASI’s mentoring and high school internships and for Fairbanks’ eight Title One Schools to attend free field trips.
Past funding from Co-op Market: ASI received funding from the Co-op Market Lend-a-hand program in the program’s very early days, in April 2014. At that time funds provided essential support for a new educational internship at Creamer’s Field. ASI has not received Lend a Hand funds since that time.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska
Mission: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alaska’s (BBBSAK)’s mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. Their work pairs Alaskan youth with trusted mentors who provide stability, positive relationships, and social skills that equip them to meet and beat obstacles in every part of life. So far, in 2023, they have served 40 youth in Fairbanks, with 13 on the waitlist to be matched with mentors!
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: Funds will be used for BBBSAK mentoring activities to support youth in Fairbanks, including recruiting new Bigs and Littles and supporting matches once they are made. The Fairbanks staff will establish and carry out social media marketing strategies, build and maintain partnerships with social services and schools who refer Littles to us and hold presentations with community partners, including local businesses and community service organizations, to recruit Bigs.
Past funding from Co-op Market: The 2020 funding was used to support matches in Fairbanks virtually during the pandemic.
Mission: Calypso’s mission is to encourage local food production and environmental awareness through hands-on education in farming and natural ecosystems. We pursue our mission by offering an array of outdoor educational programs for youth and adults and growing fresh food for the community.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: Funds will support our Pay What You Can discount system for fresh food, including at the Southside Market and through our vegetable CSA. Funds will allow us to continue offering discounts up to 50% off to people who want to eat fresh, local food, but cannot afford to pay full price at this time.
Past funding from Co-op Market: In 2014 and 2017, funding received from the Lend-a-Hand program supported Calypso’s youth education programs at the Hunter Elementary Garden. In 2020, Lend a Hand funds were reallocated to community food relief through the school gardens. In 2022 and 2023, Lend a Hand funds provided vital support for our Pay What You Can discount system, which is completely supported by individual donations and programs like this.
Chena Tool Library - First-time applicant.
Mission: The Chena Tool Library’s mission is to empower our community by eliminating barriers to tools, knowledge, and support. They have over 600 tools in their inventory, an online platform that allows interested borrowers to browse our inventory, and integrated software for tool reservations and tracking borrowing. Maintenance of tools is conducted by volunteers and staff.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: “We are looking to expand to include workshop space for onsite tool use, classes, and tool maintenance. We are actively searching for a new space in partnership with some other nonprofits, and the boost in funding through the Lend-A-Hand program would get us closer to this goal”.
Past funding from Co-op Market: Has not received funds.
Downtown Association of Fairbanks Community Services
Mission: To “identify and fill critical social service gaps, lessening the burdens of government while at the same time maintaining the vitality and improving the overall quality of life in downtown Fairbanks.”
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: Funds would be used to support the Emergency Service Patrol by underwriting program costs to keep ESP Ambassadors on the streets, helping inebriated or incapacitated people in public spaces to find appropriate care. These costs can vary in nature but routinely include staff time and equipment, supplies, and vehicle preparedness (including routine maintenance and gas).
Past funding from Co-op Market: Lend-a-Hand funds from January 2023 were directed at supporting ESP Ambassadors in several ways. ESP staff were on hand daily (including holidays) and supplied with daily essentials (like breathalyzer strips). Funding also ensured that the ESP vans were properly maintained and gassed up, ready for service whenever needed.
Mission: To provide veterinary services, supplies, and equipment beyond what is allocated in the Fairbanks North Star Borough budget for the Fairbanks North Star Borough Animal Shelter and Division of Animal Control.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: Funds will be used to provide veterinary services at several local clinics. Costs have gone up, and it's our goal never to have to say no to a request for life-saving veterinary care.
Past funding from Co-op Market: Funds have been used to provide veterinary services at several local clinics.
Mission: To inspire and connect families through discovery and the power of play. The Fairbanks Children’s Museum is an interactive early education space that serves families in the Interior by learning through play.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: To continue to grow their programming and reach all families in the Interior.
Past funding from Co-op Market: When we received funding in the past, every penny has gone to serve our mission, supporting our growth, our staff, and access to the Museum.
Mission: The Mission of the Fairbanks Community Food Bank is to collect local surplus food in the community and share it with local people who need it.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: To support the vehicle that picks up the food you choose to donate to this Food Bank for food boxes that will be distributed in our community.
Past funding from Co-op Market: In 2023 FCFB was the recipient of funds from the Co-Op Lend a Hand program.
Mission: Fairbanks Resource Agency is a non-profit Alaskan corporation dedicated to assuring that Interior Alaskans with disabilities and their families have equal opportunity to be fully included in the community where education, employment, housing, recreation, and family services are available in the same places, at the same times, and with the same respect afforded any member of the community. It is within our promise that you can truly see our dedication to carrying out our mission.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: Help seniors maintain independence. Seniors and families pay for chore services and respite care on a sliding fee scale based on income. A senior might pay as little as $1.00 an hour to receive chore services. Community contributions help bridge the gap in the cost of providing that hourly service. Provide supplies for FRA's Discovery Center Program. The FRA Discovery Center supports more than 50 children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in a center-based program designed to incorporate both art and social groups for peer interaction, skill building, preparation for employment, participation in community life, and achievement of personal goals.
Past funding from Co-op Market: In 2021 FRA was the recipient of funds from the Co-Op Lend a Hand program
Mission: The North Star Council on Aging strives to meet the needs of older adults by providing services that enhance and promote quality of life, self-determination, independent living, and dignity.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: All Lend a Hand funds will be used to directly purchase healthy food to support our Meals on Wheels Program.
Past funding from Co-op Market: All donations to the Meals on Wheels program have gone to purchasing healthy food for daily delivery to over 250 seniors a day.
Mission: “Inspiring environmental stewardship and lifelong learning through experience, awareness, appreciation, and conservation of the natural and historic resources of Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge."
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: If funded, Lend-a-Hand funds will be used to support their free community programs. It will also allow them to pursue new programs in 2024, such as expanding the Tanana Valley Sandhill Crane Festival or adding Spring Break Programming.
Past funding from Co-op Market: Previous funding has supported the planning and implementation of free educational programs. Lend-a-Hand funding has also allowed them to refresh some of the interpretive signage around the Refuge and maintain our contract with a local company to clean the outhouses, keeping them open year-round.
Mission: To support the discovery, share knowledge, and inspire people about high-latitude horticulture.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: Lend-A-Hand dollars will be used to support the 2024 Second Annual Far North Currant Festival. Expenses include tables, tents, purchasing currants, information publications, and hiring Anchorage-based Indigenous chef Flora Deacon for demonstrations.
Past funding from Co-op Market: In 2023 the Co-op Market Lend-A-Hand program supported the educational, research, and community activities of the GBG, especially the Harvest Project Collaborative.
Mission: To increase recycling in the Fairbanks North Star Borough and garner a culture of sustainability by means of materials reuse.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: Funds from the Lend a Hand program support their overall mission and work, but this source of funding is especially helpful for maintaining programs such as recycling education and outreach projects and collaborations, donations of electronics to low-income Fairbanksans, their residential fluorescent bulb recycling program, and Village Backhaul program.
Past funding from Co-op Market: “In 2022, Green Star had a few big changes, supported in part by funds from the Lend a Hand program. Out of necessity, we relocated and settled into a new warehouse at 2134 Texaco Ave (a big move!). Our efforts to create systems to rehome used electronics through donations and low-cost sales bloomed, and we have hired a new Reuse Specialist to continue and grow this work. Most recently, we have assumed the responsibility of operating the FNSB Central Recycling Facility, for which we hired 11 new employees. We envision this new role giving us a direct vantage from which we can engage our community on recycling efforts.”
Mission: Guys Read Gals Read, Inc. is a nonprofit volunteer organization registered with the State of Alaska and a 501c3 registered with the IRS (EIN47-2634465). Our purpose is to show children that reading is fun and that many adults enjoy reading. When a person reads for pleasure, they’re more likely to read regularly, seriously, and skillfully. To help foster lifelong reading, Guys and Gals Read exposes children to an array of books that are age-appropriate and pleasurable to read.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: -
Past funding from Co-op Market: - Received in February 2021
Interior Alaska Cancer Association
Mission: “The Interior Alaska Cancer Association is a nonprofit organization that helps cancer patients and their families and educates the community about cancer-related issues. We are here to help physicians and members in the Interior fight cancer. We provide support groups, financial assistance, and resource guidance for those who have cancer.”
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: Requests of cancer patients vary and we accommodate each individual. The highest requests are payments for heating fuel, gas, gift cards from Safeway(allowing purchases for food, gas, and pharmacy utilities, taxi rides to and from treatments for Fairbanks and No. Pole areas. We also have knowledge of local resources to assist the patient.
Past funding from Co-op Market: Received in 2021.
Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living
Mission: The Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living’s Mission is a community free of domestic violence, sexual assault, and child sex abuse. IAC provides secure shelter and immediate safety for survivors and their children who are experiencing domestic violence or sexual assault. IAC also provides crisis intervention, advocacy education, and referrals related to domestic violence, sexual assault, incest, and child sexual abuse to those in need. IAC provides an empowering environment while respecting diversity and assisting individuals in understanding and taking action on their options.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: IAC is looking forward to using Lend A Hand funds to enhance supportive services for survivors of domestic violence and assault. This includes purchasing specialized items that may not be readily available after a client has fled, and case management for situations that are unexpected barriers.
Past funding from Co-op Market: Received multiple times in the past.
Mission: To change lives through literacy. Literacy means being able to read, write, and speak English and to compute in order to function in today's society.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: The funds will be used to pay for instructors, classes, materials, and all the things that go into running an adult education program here in Fairbanks.
Past funding from Co-op Market: Funds have supported LCA’s mission of educating adults in our community. These funds help fill in the gaps in materials and resources that aren’t covered by grants. Literacy needs continue to evolve in our community, and this funding allows LCA to adapt to needs, maintain current services, and replace needed equipment.
Mission: To provide support, education, and advocacy for people experiencing psychiatric disabilities, their families, friends, and interested community members.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: Lend a Hand funds will be used for program expenses and operating costs for their local office. There is no charge to participate in NAMI programs but there are costs incurred for training volunteer program leaders and presenters.
Past funding from Co-op Market: “NAMI Fairbanks has served the community for 40 years, and your support was critical in helping us keep our doors open during the time of COVID. We were able to re-establish our family and peer support groups and have seen participation double since we received the funding in 2020 and 2021.”
North Star Imagination Library
Mission: To inspire a lifelong love of reading by mailing age-appropriate books each month to children under five living in the North Star Borough. Our volunteer board is responsible for registering children and raising the funds to pay for the books.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: “All funds raised for the Imagination Library go to pay the cost of the books and mailing, which averages nearly $6,000 per month for the 2,700 registered children. We are a volunteer-run organization, so we have virtually no overhead costs!”
Past funding from Co-op Market: “Several years ago, we were selected for Lend a Hand and were able to use those funds to purchase hundreds of books for young readers.”
Our 2 Cents Fairbanks Inc. - First-time applicant.
Mission: Our 2 Cents Fairbanks, Inc. is a community fund driven by small, monthly donations and the support of local businesses and Alaskan corporations. Together, we have raised over $190,000, funded 42 important community projects, and raised awareness for ongoing community needs.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: Lend a Hand funds will be used solely to fund the project, Showers And Laundry For All. To ensure that everyone has access to personal hygiene facilities, Our 2 Cents has partnered with VIP Cleaners & Laundromat, Fairbanks, Alaska to provide free showers and laundry services to community members who are affected by homelessness, poverty, or going through a difficult time.
Past funding from Co-op Market: Has not received Co-op Market funding in the past.
PAWS Search and Rescue Dogs - First-time applicant.
Mission: “Provide trained and professional Search and Rescue Dog and Handler teams to assist the Alaska State Troopers in finding lost or missing people or evidence throughout Interior Alaska.”
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: We would like to purchase additional tracking collars, the GPS units that receive those signals, and procure training opportunities for our handlers and associate members.
Past funding from Co-op Market: Has not received Co-op Market funding in the past. Received a community grant through Volunteers In Policing (VIP) this past summer to host a nationallyrecognized dog trainer to travel to Fairbanks and work with the group. Training opportunities like the one this past summer greatly enhance the functionality of both dog/handler relationship and the team-building that naturally occurs.
Pet Pride - First-time applicant.
Mission: “Whenever there is a cat in need, be it homeless or losing its home, we will do all we can to get all the help it needs and into a purrrrfect home. The cats’ wellbeing, health, and future home us our priority, along with educating people about cats and their care.”
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: If selected, funds will be used to cover veterinary bills.
Past funding from Co-op Market: Has not received Co-op Market funding in the past.
Resource Center for Parents and Children
Mission: To create a culture that values parenting and keeping children safe through education, respect, advocacy, and strengthening families.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: Funds from Lend a Hand will be used to increase supplies and resources available to the children & families we serve. RCPC is a place where families can turn to for unexpected needs. There are times when caregivers need emergency clothing or school supplies for a child, or a new mom needs diapers and formula for their new baby. These are items and services that help ensure families have access to what they may need in order to survive and thrive.
Past funding from Co-op Market: The funds received from the October 2023 Lend a Hand will be used to advance the prevention and outreach efforts for updated materials for both Stevie’s Place and our Family Services Program. RCPC is expanding outreach efforts to provide education surrounding warning signs of child abuse and neglect and resiliency building to the Fairbanks community.
Straw for Dogs - First-time applicant.
Mission: Straw For Dogs promotes quality caretaking and provides supplies and resources to promote the welfare of and quality of life for dogs in Alaska, through education, community outreach, rescue, and adoption/rehoming.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: Funds will be used to purchase materials to build insulated dog houses, straw, food, collars, tie-outs, and anything else that can be provided to make dogs more comfortable.
Past funding from Co-op Market: Has not received Co-op Market funding in the past.
Mission: To feed people and affirm lives. This nonprofit runs four anti-hunger programs that provide food for anyone who needs a good meal in a safe place and opportunities for people to empower their own lives.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: On November 1, the Bread Line’s Stone Soup Cafe served its 50,000th meal of 2023. With two months still to go, the soup kitchen broke its previous record for the most meals served in any given year. In order to meet this unprecedented need, the Bread Line is having to purchase food. The funds from Lend a Hand will help manage these operating expenses.
Past funding from Co-op Market: As a past recipient of Lend a Hand, these funds have helped the Bread Line continue its anti-hunger mission “to feed people and affirm lives” by providing good food and community support to anyone in need.
Mission: To provide in-depth care that puts our youth in a position for growth that will best benefit their future.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: Funds will be used to implement new educational services, including budgeting classes, managing finances, positive relations, etc.
Past funding from Co-op Market: The funds have been used to implement educational services.
Mission: To perpetuate the joy of hands-on learning.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: The funds will help cover the costs of programs to keep them affordable.
Past funding from Co-op Market: Funds have been used to provide scholarships for a variety of classes and programs, including Week in the Woods and various woodworking classes. The funds have also helped with repairs and improvements in our cabin and workshop at Pioneer Park.
UAF CTC Culinary Arts and Hospitality - First-time applicant
Mission: To provide transformative educational opportunities in the culinary and hospitality fields to Alaskans of all backgrounds.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: 50% of the funds to provide scholarships, directly assisting students in affording college, while the remaining 50% will be used for program support. This support will enhance the students' experience through experiential learning, focusing on crucial instructional materials such as tools, produce, and equipment.
Past funding from Co-op Market: Has not received Co-op Market funding in the past.
Wilderness Search and Rescue - First-time applicant
Mission: To provide a trained, professional team and equipment to respond rapidly, effectively, and safely to augment the Alaska State Troopers’ departmental Search and Rescue efforts and to render aid to lost, injured, stranded, missing or overdue persons in all areas of Interior Alaska.
How Lend a Hand funds will be used: Funds will be used to provide training for volunteers and search and rescue equipment that we utilize on searches to communicate, for safety, and for recovery for those who are lost.
Past funding from Co-op Market: Has not received Co-op Market funding in the past.
Thank you to every organization that has dedicated time to share their stories and initiatives with us. The voting period will open Thursday, December 14th at 12 pm AKT and will close on December 25th at 11:59 pm AKT. Keep an eye out for more updates as we embark on this journey of community support and collaboration.