TRUCKEE, Calif. – The Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation released a summary of work they did over the summer in a quarterly report, which highlights grants, scholarships and community reports.

“As summer winds down, we’re proud of all the great work that continues to happen in the Tahoe-Truckee community, and proud to share highlights from our fourth quarter,” said Stacy Caldwell, CEO, TTCF in a news letter introducing the report.

The report emphasized the work done with students and scholarships. In the last quarter of the fiscal year, they awarded more than $1.5 million to students demonstrating both merit and need.

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One such scholarship was awarded to Zach Conradson, a 2013 graduate of Truckee High School. He received a BA in business management from the University of Utah, decided to build a different kind of career in flying fire-retardant bombers for CAL FIRE. His scholarship will help him from receive training from the Airline Career Pilot Program at ATP Flight School in Riverside, Calif.

“The scholarship that Conradson was awarded to help pay for that training drew from several sources, with the initial funds coming from a Truckee Tahoe Airport District scholarship offered to students pursuing careers in aviation. This was combined with a gift from Richard and Theresa Crocker that’s earmarked for young adults pursuing further education to develop a skill that meets a local need—protecting the region from wildfire certainly met that criterion,” the report states.

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In addition to being pleased with the amount of money awarded, TTCF was proud to see an increase in stakeholder awareness of the scholarship program.

Dana Crary, TTCF’s Community Impact Manager said in the report that awareness among teachers and counselors is up, and that they are helping students apply and supporting them through the process.

In 2017, TTCF purchased the license for software that created a common application so high school students could apply for a number of scholarships at once, helping streamline the application process.

This scholarship cycle, 150 volunteers from the community help pick scholarship recipients. The $1.5 million was given to 137 recipients, 51 of which were first-generation students. 66% of scholarships were awarded to Truckee High School students, 55% to North Tahoe High School students and the remainder to Sierra High School and Forest Charter High School students.

Students were also awarded supplemental scholarships who those who want to pursue, or enhance, learning in fields that are needed in the Tahoe-Truckee community, such as, Aviation/STEM, doctorate studies in Veterinary Medicine, and Masters degrees in Special Education and High School Counseling. More than $170,000 was awarded to 11 recipients.

The report also highlighted work done in their Forest Futures initiative.

“Exciting news for Forest Futures with the implementation of the Truckee North Tahoe Forest Management Program this past spring. TNTFMP is a pilot program to assist private forested property owners with wildfire resilience efforts; it has been made possible through the CAL FIRE Wildfire Resilience Block Grant Program,” the report stated.

In June, $507,050 was awarded for seven private property forest management projects, in the first round of funding. Grants will support technical assistance, CEQA permitting process support, and on the ground projects.

The report also touched on housing and family strengthening, as well as dates for upcoming grants cycles. To see the full report, visit https://ttcfimpactreport.net/.