From the Chair . . .
I want to take a moment to thank our Board and all the volunteers who serve our community. They are a talented and dedicated group who are committed to the residents of our beautiful Valley. They include lawyers, business leaders, a hospital administrator, healthcare providers and more. ‘They’ are the Wasatch Community Foundation. It is their skills and commitment that allow us to complete the numerous programs in each of our Pillars.
Wasatch Community Foundation was founded over 20 years ago by leaders in our community. The goal was to provide one non-profit that residents could donate to and it would meet the needs of all the community. I believe we still do that through our five pillars: Recreation, Health, Arts, Education and Service.
We are an all-volunteer Board dedicated to giving back to the Valley we love. Join us! If you’re interested in serving on one of our committees, please contact us. If you have ideas, we would love to hear them.
Be sure to scroll down to read about the miracle that happened when feeding our community. And, of course, for us to be successful, we need your donations! You can donate and reach out to us at www.ourwcf.org!
Tom Fowler, Board Chair
In the News . . .
Ask Heber Valley Community Expo. Do you want to know what’s going on in our valley? This first annual event on April 22 from noon-6 p.m. will give you all the answers with exhibitor booths, local businesses, live entertainment, food vendors and more. For more info: https://www.gohebervalley.com/
Did You Know? Soldier Hollow was formerly a Native American encampment. It is speculated that the name ‘Soldier Hollow’ comes from Captain James H. Simpson and his company of road surveyors and other soldiers who later camped in the area in 1849.
Spotlight: A Loves and Fishes Miracle of Giving Do you believe in miracles? Ask Diann Glenn, the president of the Wasatch Parent Network (formerly the PTA) and a board member of the Wasatch Community Foundation. We recently uncovered this story. Over the holidays, she took the lead in providing 1,200 bags of food for low-income households. She collaborated with a local foundation, two food banks, the Christian Center of Park City, Mountain View Fellowship Church, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to put the initiative together.
A first group of volunteers met to assemble 600 bags of food that were filled in 90 minutes. But as they finished, Diann realized there was not going to be enough food for the second group of volunteers to fill another 600 bags – maybe 250-300 bags. Diann talked it over with some of the donor groups, and they felt that they would just fill as many bags as they could and some students would not get the food they need over the holiday break. A friend from the CCPC said, “Just have faith.”
The Miracle. The second shift of volunteers arrived and started filling the last of the bags. They filled 250 bags, then 300 bags. And, still there was more food. They filled and filled more and more bags until over 600 bags were full…and there was food leftover to return to the food bank. Just as the story of Jesus fed the 5,000 with a few loaves and fishes, 1,200 young students in Wasatch County School District had food over Christmas break. Diann (and all of us at the Wasatch Community Foundation) are believers in miracles. Thank you for being a part of it!
Recreation Pillar Update . . .
The Recreation Pillar has been busy doing what it does best: providing excellent recreational opportunities to the Heber Valley.
A few highlights for 2022 included providing financial support for upgrades to the Heber Dog Park, purchasing 7 bike repair stations at mountain bike trailheads in Wasatch Mountain State Park, sponsoring the Valkyrie Multi-discipline race, conducting a Cornhole Tournament, with proceeds to go to First Responders in the Valley, and supporting fundraising efforts for the construction of local pickleball courts. The foundation also provided financial support for Soldier Hollow activities, including their acquisition of a bus, and their Kickers and Gliders program for children, as well as provided financial support for a National Fitness Court to be constructed across the street from the high school.
For 2023, the Recreation Pillar will continue to provide financial support for the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center Programs as well as sponsor a Cornhole Tournament as a part of Heber’s 4th of July Festival. Additionally, we are either planning or engaged in supporting the following projects:
1. Mountain Bike Terrain Park. We are planning to support the construction of a Mountain Bike Terrain Park at a site in Heber Valley still under consideration.
2. Intermountain Adaptive Triathlon. We plan to support efforts of the Intermountain Adaptive Triathlon group to acquire needed 3 wheel recumbent bikes and trailers to enable para-athletes from Heber Valley to train for and participate in triathlons.
3. Other Misc. We are regularly considering other community recreation needs, such as an ice arena, indoor shooting range, and 3 on 3 basketball tournaments, and will work to respond to these and other needs as resources and opportunities permit.
– Tim Ricks
Recreation Chair
Health Pillar Update . . .
The Issues Community Conference in March with keynote speaker and actor Corbin Allred was well attended. He shared his motto LIFT – Love, Inspire, Fulfill, Teach– as he addressed mental and emotional health. Following the keynote, attendees attended a variety of workshops including improving happiness, conquering challenges, self-defense, parenting, yoga and more.
A couple of highlights from the health pillar in 2022 include a Super Healthy Kids Clinic where uninsured children in the county received free health screenings and referrals to any followup health needs services. There were 29 patients, ages 3-15, who were seen in 2022 and the following support rendered:
26 Well Child Exams
6 children received immunizations
25 hearing exams. 2 needed follow-up
26 Vision Exams
26 Mental Health screenings
28 Dental exams
Wasatch Community Foundation’s Health Pillar also sponsored a Spanish-speaking mental health therapist to Heber 1 day per week from July through December 2022. We are grateful to have provided those services for families in Wasatch County who were uninsured or unable to otherwise access services.
– Jonelle Fitzgerald
Health Pillar Chair