Alberton's PEAK foundation receives grant

ALBERTON – An organization devoted to providing constructive opportunities and activities for Alberton youths has received a grant which organizers say will help them continue their work.

The PEAK foundation (Promoting Excellence of Alberton-area Kids) will use the $8,000 grant to continue their stated mission of promoting excellence in the area’s young people by collaborating on community programs designed to provide cultural, academic and physical activities that contribute to the community.

Organizers of PEAK elaborated on how the grant was attained during one such PEAK activity last Thursday, Aug. 28 at one of the community’s sports fields. As approximately 15 kids played a game of baseball hosted by the organization, chairperson Laura Acker and member Jaime Odell said the grant wasn’t something they actively pursued.

“It’s not one you can solicit,” Odell said. “The organization that provides the grant just looks around and sees what is going on in communities. They thought what we were trying to do was great and they gave us this grant. It’s fantastic. I’m really excited about it.”

The organization that issued the grant to PEAK is called the Raynier Institute and Foundation. It is a privately funded foundation whose stated goal is “to fund individuals, organizations and causes of a charitable nature that will carry out projects and programs of high merit for the betterment of humanity.”

The Raynier Institute is the brainchild of James Widener Ray, a businessman and philanthropist in Seattle. Ray passed away suddenly in 2005 and left his entire $80 million estate to the institute which continues to honor his legacy of supporting charitable causes such as PEAK.

Odell said PEAK would put the money to good use. She said they would try to have more community theater productions in the future such as the recent performance of Briar Rose, which showed to a sold-out audience on its first night.

“This helps so much,” Odell said. “We will spend it carefully and make it last. Our priority is providing a play every year and Shakespeare in the Parks. Eventually we would like to build a rec center for the older kids to use after school. That’s a few years down the road but this gives us hope we might be able to achieve that.”

As for the baseball game being played on Thursday, Acker said it was just one more way to get kids outside and keep them active. She said the activity was a constructive way for adults and kids to interact.

“We try and do a kid’s activity in the park every other Thursday during the summer,” Acker said. “This gets everyone hanging out together and forms a positive relationship between kids and adults.”

Acker said playing games outdoors also instills healthy habits in young people and addresses a public health concern.

“We put things like this on because we want to see kids engaging in healthy activities,” Acker said. “Obesity rates in Montana are through the roof so we want to get them outdoors and playing together. It keeps them from just being indoors all the time.”