It’s Time for the WAC Fish Fam to Show Up for Alaska — A Fundraiser

I want to hold space in this week’s newsletter to address the climate and cultural crisis that’s happening in western Alaska right now. Typhoon Halong recently brought catastrophic flooding to Alaska Native communities along the coastline in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. Homes, fish camps, fuel storage, and the subsistence resources on which families rely were destroyed, and many members of the community have been displaced. 

Disasters like this one threaten the ability of coastal communities to live by ancestral knowledge and to remain on lands that have sustained them for centuries. Some families may even be forced to permanently relocate to higher ground, breaking connections that cannot easily take root elsewhere. As such, there is an immediate, urgent need for resources to help these communities recover in both the short and long term.

The people of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta have been stewards of Alaska’s western coastline for millennia, in ways that are deeply tied to not just the ecosystem but to the culture of Alaska. And I can unequivocally say that Wild Alaskan Company would not exist if it weren’t for the people of rural western Alaska, many of whom are Alaska Natives, whose work on the Bering Sea brings in so many of the species that we source for Wild Alaskan Company. 

In response to this disaster, we’re calling on the WAC fish family (including you, dear members, and the over 100 team members working at WAC!) to rise to the occasion and support Wild Alaskan Company’s donation matching initiative. This initiative aims to raise resources for the Western Alaska Disaster Relief 2025 Fund (housed at the Alaska Community Foundation). Every donation from both Wild Alaskan Company members and WAC team members will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the company, up to a total of $10,000. These contributions will directly support organizations closest to the communities affected, providing resources and assistance where it is most urgently needed.

Many of you have written to us over the past few weeks expressing care for Alaska’s communities, fisheries, and people. This is one way to turn that care into action. If you’d like to contribute, please donate here: Western Alaska Disaster Relief 2025 Fund. Thank you for standing with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta communities and for helping protect the people, traditions, and fisheries that make Alaska one of the most remarkable places on the planet.

Live Wild,

Monica

Pictured above: A satellite image of the Yukon Delta in 2022, a place where the rivers and streams resemble a network of blood vessels, bringing so much life and vitality to the region.