Past Grant Recipients

Spring 2017 Grant Cycle – $89,864

Montana Land Reliance – $5,000
HATCH – $24,000 – Ostinato Music Project and NextGen Lab
Gallatin River Task Force – $2,500 – “Hooked on the Gallatin: Youth Fly Fishing Camp”
BSSD – Ophir Elementary School Music – $3,500 – 20 xylophones
Warren Miller Performaning Arts Center – $8,170 – Big Sky Conservatory Summer 2017
BSSD – Ophir Elementary Art Program – $15,000 – Monthly and weekly art classes
Big Sky Discovery Academy – $13,500 – English Language Learner Classes for youth and adults
Morningstar Learning Center – $5,364 – Program enrichment/ new cribs and mattresses
Montana Raptor Conservation Center – $5,000 -Building educational MEWS/Raptor Housing
Big Sky Community Organization – $4,330 – Kircher Discovery Park Tree Fort
Arts Council of Big Sky – $3,500 – 2017 “Music in the Mountains” sponsorship

Fall 2016 Grant Cycle

Arts Council of Big Sky – $3,500- ARTventure program in BSSD
Big Sky Community Organization – $3,500 – Funding for a new yurt to expand Camp Big Sky
Big Sky Discovery Academy/ Community Learning Center – $6,000 – Homework Help, College Prep and ESL
Big Sky School District – $10,000 – ARTSplot/ Art education funding
Gallatin River Task Force/Gallatin/Big Sky Weed Committee – $4,000 – Clean Drain Dry project
Jack Creek Preserve Foundation – $7,500 – Funding for the MSU/Jack Creek Research and Outreach Partnership
Montana Land Reliance – $6,000 – Funding for community outreach and education

Other initiatives:

* MCF sponsored a “Music in the Mountains” concert – Arts Council of Big Sky – $3,500

* MCF funded interpretive signs for the Hummocks and Uplands trails with Big Sky Community Organization

* MCF established (through Friends of Big Sky Education) a $2,000 Lee Poole Memorial Scholarship for a graduating LPHS senior – preferably going to a student attending a trade or vocational school

Spring 2016 Grant Awards

HATCH – hatchexperience.org
Hatch Experience Scholarships – $12,500
Hatch NEXTGen Lab – $7,000
Hatch Ostinato Music Project – $10,000

Warren Miller Performing Arts Center – warrenmillerpac.org
Big Sky Conservancy – $6,000

Gallatin-Big Sky Weed Committee – bigskyweeds.org
Play Clean Go Initiative – $6,000

Gallatin River Task Force – gallatinrivertaskforce.org
Moose Creek Interpretive Sign – $6,000

Big Sky School District – bssd72.org
TV/Film/Photography equipment – $4,000

Camp Moonlight – campmoonlightmt.com
Camp Moonlight Scholarships – $11,000

Our History and Initial Projects

We began informally in 2011, and in July 2014, the IRS determined that we are exempt from Federal Income Tax under section 501(c)3. We are qualified to receive tax deductible gifts under section 2055, 2106 or 2522 of the Code.

Thanks to the support of our generous donors, we have two continuing projects. The first is to add educational signs to public hiking trails (similar to the sign above). Currently, five signs are installed on the Ulery’s Loop Trail in Big Sky. In 2015, we are partnering with Big Sky Community Corporation to design, purchase and install 3 new trail signs on their Hummocks and Uplands Trails in Big Sky.

The second, more significant project, is to support an educational and nature-based camp that Moonlight Basin launched as a pilot in the summer of 2013 and continued in the summers of 2014 & 2015. Camp Moonlight is a summer camp for children ages 3-15, and the Moonlight Community Foundation sponsors campers from the greater Big Sky area to attend camp. The Foundation also provides educational staffing/programs and camp equipment to ensure an educational experience for the campers. Look for photos of last year’s happy campers on the “Camp Moonlight-2014” page of this website.

In 2015, we have also provided donations to the elementary school library, the high school football program, and we are planning to support a “Reach Out and Read” program at the new Big Sky Medical Center. We are also an Event Sponsor for the 2015 Women in Action Golf Tournament.