TRUCKEE, Calif. — Christmas came early to dozens of nonprofits who work tirelessly to make the Truckee/North Tahoe community a wonderful place to live. 

On Monday morning, members of the Martis Camp Foundation community grants committee started handing out grants to their nonprofit partners. They started at 9 a.m. and finished hand delivering checks at 4 p.m. In all, 53 organizations received grants totaling $750,000. 

“We love Truckee. We love being a part of this community,” said Liz McDermott, chair of the community grants committee. “The Martis Camp Foundation is the heart of Martis Camp. Our goal is to grow and continue doing as much for our community as we possibly can.” 

---

---

The MCF focuses its community grants program on youth development, education, human services, and recreation. This year marks the most generous year in the MCF’s 12-year history. The average grant was $11,171. The hope is to help these organizations expand, touch more lives, and ultimately thrive. “It’s so powerful for our scholars to meet the community members who are helping support their college and professional aspirations and we’re deeply grateful for the generous support,” says Craig Rowe, Director of La Fuerza Latina. This organization helps first gen, LatinX students achieve the dream of going to college. 

This year, the MCF also expanded its focus to include several large dollar grants for capital projects that will change the landscape of our local community. They are helping build a new KidZone Museum, the Rocker Memorial Skate Park, pickleball courts, and cleaning up the forest floor of biomass piles to help prevent devastating forest fires. This work shows how the MCF is continually expanding to better serve the needs of our community. 

---

---

“Thank you for taking the time to come to the beach this morning and deliver the grant awards,” said Eve McEneaney, CEO at Arts For The Schools. “We are very grateful to you for your support. This year marks our 3rd year embarking on our programming with limited staff, and we are so proud of what we have done, and what we have planned for the future We truly could not have done our work these last few years without donors like you.”

Their mission is to inspire, teach and build our rural communities through equitable access to the arts and arts education. 

“We are amazed at all the work being done in this community by so many nonprofits,” said Barbie Witmer, MCF community grants committee member. “They are keeping kids safe, families fed, women protected, improving the trail system, and so much more. We are honored to be a small part of this tremendous work.”

The MCF is proud to support these nonprofit partners:

Youth Development: Adventure Risk Challenge, Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Northern Sierra, Boys & Girls Club North Lake Tahoe, Cast Hope, Girls on the Run, Kidzone, SOS Outreach, Tahoe Truckee School of Music, Truckee Community Theatre, Truckee Tahoe Soaring Association

Education: Aim High, Arts for the Schools, Friends of the Truckee Library, Gateway Mountain Center, Glenshire Special Friends, Headwaters Science Institute, La Fuerza Latina, Pathways to Aviation, Positively Rolling, Sagehen Outdoor Education Program, Sierra Avalanche Center, Soroptimist International of Truckee Donner, Tahoe Expedition Academy, Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation, Truckee Roundhouse

Human Services: Granite Wellness Center, High Fives Foundation, Humane Society of Truckee-Tahoe, North Tahoe Truckee Homeless Services, Send It Foundation, Sierra Community House, Sierra Senior Services, Slow Food Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Ability Program, Tahoe Food Hub, Tahoe Forest Health System Foundation, Truckee Community Christmas, UC Davis Field Trip, Wampler Foundation 

Recreation: Achieve Tahoe, Biking for a Better World, Clean Up Lake Tahoe, Northstar Team Foundation, Rocker Memorial Skate Park, Tahoe Cross Country Ski Education Association, Tahoe Donner Rec Dept. – Pickleball, Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue, Trails and Vistas, Truckee Donner Land Trust, Truckee Trails Foundation