Saddlehorn gives about $40k to community groups

On Monday evening, the very day that the country was officially declared to be in a recession, the Saddlehorn Foundation gave nearly $40,000 to community groups in Bigfork and around the Flathead Valley.

"It's official," said Doug Averill, one of the development's partners who is also on the foundation's board. "We're handing over our money on the day of the recession."

The foundation is essentially a voluntary impact fee that Saddlehorn assessed on itself, Averill said, with a percentage of each lot sold legally required to go to the foundation for distribution to local non-profits and foundations. Averill said that the community's cut doesn't end after a lot is sold, and that each time a property is re-sold in the future, the same percentage fee will remain.

Averill said there was "no rhyme or reason" as to which groups got money or how much, but that any recipient must have certified 501(c)3 non-profit status.

Last year the foundation donated about $30,000 to community groups.

This year's recipients were:

• The Community Foundation For a Better Bigfork: The CFBB received three grants, totaling $14,500, for three different projects. The first was $7,500 toward the group's continuing push to build and improve sidewalks in the downtown area. The second was $5,000 toward access for the Whitney property on the Swan River behind Osborne Avenue and the third was $2,000 for the continued development of a recycling program in Bigfork.

• The LEAP after school program received $2,700 for operations and scholarship costs.

• The Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation received $500 toward its mission of giving kids around the Valley a chance to enjoy snow sports.

• The Northwest Healthcare Foundation received $2,000 for the A.L.E.R.T. air ambulance service, the second hospital-based helicopter rescue service in America.

• Young Life, a Christian group for teenagers, received $2,800 for its operation at Bigfork High School.

• Ravenwood Science Center received a $2,000 grant for the groups outdoor education programs and camps.

• Intermountain Children's Home, a Helena-based organization opening up a branch near Somers, received $2,000 to help fund a crisis house in the Flathead for children up to 12 years old.

• The North Shore Nordic Club received $1,000 for its maintenance of cross-country ski trails on Blacktail Mountain in Lakeside and on Foothills Drive in Bigfork.

• The Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts received $10,000 toward the group's goal of about $1 million for the theater expansion and improvement project currently under construction.