The Anchorage-based Rasmuson Foundation has announced grants totaling $9 million in support of nonprofits in Alaska.

Grants were awarded to twenty-three projects across the state, including $350,000 to the Yukon Delta Fisheries Development Association in the southwestern Alaska village of Emmonak to help expand its youth employment program and increase local access to fresh produce through a small farm, and $250,000 each in support of local efforts of the Native village of Diomede and the Hydaburg Cooperative Association to construct community grocery stores in remote areas. The foundation also awarded funding in support of a shelter in Bethel, an effort to assist young adults in Anchorage preparing to live independently, a drop-in center in the Mat-Su for youth experiencing homelessness, and a project in Ketchikan aimed at addressing potential rockfall hazards behind the main building of a nonprofit that serves those with disabilities.

"We were pleased to see projects all over Alaska and especially those that will serve communities well through economic development," said foundation board chair Ed Rasmuson. "The challenges of 2020 showed us all we need to be more self-sufficient. We at the foundation can get behind projects with the potential for long-standing, life-changing benefits."

(Photo credit: Gettyimages / Janifest)