EBS STAFF
The Spanish Peaks Community Foundation announced its 2025 spring grant recipients, focusing primarily on education and youth programming among other categories spanning 19 local nonprofits.
The 21 grants totaled $574,020 and were made possible due to the continued generosity of Spanish Peaks Mountain Club members, according to a May 16 press release, which noted SPCF “remains deeply committed to strengthening the Big Sky community through strategic investments in people, place, and purpose.”
Hannah Waterbury, SPCF executive director, explained that the foundation is committed to fostering a vibrant future.
“We’re deeply grateful to our members for their continued generosity and to the incredible leadership of our local nonprofits—together, they make this impactful work possible. We continue to prioritize programs that directly serve the Big Sky workforce, while creating opportunities to come together and give back,” Waterbury stated in the release.
Forty eight percent of the total grant pool—roughly $275,530—was awarded to initiatives supporting education and youth programming, including capacity enhancement at Camp Big Sky, operations for Morningstar Learning Center, and three Big Sky School District programs—extracurricular athletics, Lone Peak High School expedition, and teacher cost of living allowance through the Big Sky PTO.
In addition, the Big Sky Ski Education Foundation received a grant for its athlete scholarship fund, Gallatin River Child Care for its new infant and toddler facility in Big Sky, Greater Gallatin United Way for its kidsLINK out-of-school initiative, and Friends of Big Sky Education for graduating senior scholarships.
The remaining 52% of grant money was divided among community services, conservation and recreation, and the arts.
Community service grants included workforce food security through the Big Sky Community Food Bank, the Rent Local incentive program through Big Sky Community Housing Trust, and affordable counseling through Wellness In Action.
Conservation and recreation grants included Gallatin River restoration work through the Gallatin River Task Force, the Big Sky Community Organization’s fitness and wellness programs at BASE, and funding to support a new mountain bike trail in Big Sky through the Southwest Montana Mountain Bike Association.
The awards represent the first of two biannual SPCF grant cycles. The organization contributed $1.04 million to local groups across both cycles in 2024.
