We have been hard at work on a capital campaign to expand our campus. We're grateful for the widespread support for our efforts to acquire Porphyry Place: the LaChapelle-Hunt Educational Homesite. The vision of expanding the WMC's programming capacity, while creating a lasting legacy to honor Ed LaChapelle and Meg Hunt’s dedication to education, scientific research, sustainability, and the arts, is quickly moving from dream to reality. 

Many have contributed despite national economic woes. Together we have raised $200,000 which puts us within reach of our $250,000 goal to cover purchase price, renovations, and other start-up costs required to get the new facility up and running in tandem with the adjacent Old Hardware Store. Our fundraising success thus far speaks to the extensive support for our mission to foster understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of wildlands and mountain culture in Alaska through scientific and artistic inquiry in the Wrangell Mountains.

A diverse group has already contributed to this fund, including the McCarthy Area Council and the State of Alaska. We now have raised 80% of our goal. We will plan adaptations which will allow limited programming, there, during 2012, with a phased-in renovation and increase in activity over the following two years. But first we must reach our full goal of $250K. We hope to raise $30,000 through this site with your help.

The addition of Porphyry Place to the WMC will benefit the region and the landscapes and communities of Alaska and beyond by helping to meet the growing need for community and educational programming. If you have not yet contributed to this campaign, act now by making a donation in any amount. And if you have already donated, thank you, and please consider making an additional donation. Every gift brings us closer to our goal, and we hope you will accept this invitation to join us in meeting the final 20% of our campaign goal by December 31^st.

Our fundraising work did not deter us from offering an exceptional roster of programs again this year. Highlights included our 28^th college program, a storytelling workshop led by Jack Dalton, and programs in gardening, field sketching, creative writing, and natural history. We offered our Mountain Arts for Youth and Summer Arts and Lectures series and supported researchers and a writer in residence, launched a series of nature walks, and made our organic produce available to the community with you-picks. We offered special events and hosted the NPS’s three day Kennecott Interpretive Concept Plan workshop and offered a program for the students in the Copper River Stewardship Program. We even concluded a year-long project funded by the State Historic Preservation Office planning for the ongoing maintenance and use of the Hardware Store, and we partnered with the local museum and the NPS on a three day centennial celebration of the completion of the Copper River & Northwestern Railway. And that’s just the beginning. These highlights provide a glimpse of the kinds of energy that will be amplified by our expanded campus. Your gift will underpin the myriad ways we’ll work to meet our mission for decades to come.

To donate, please click on one of the individual pages below, and then the DONATE button. Spread the word, and thanks for your support!