Thank you to community for supporting Western Alaska evacuees

This past week, responding to my call for donations to help Western Alaska evacuees after the devastation of Typhoon Halong, community members from Homer and the surrounding area filled and refilled donation boxes at Save U More and Ulmer’s Drug & Hardware over the course of just five days. Thank you to both businesses for serving as drop-off points and for their donations. Thank you to every individual, family, business, group and organization who donated to the collective tune of six boxes of clothing, four boxes of toiletries, three boxes of games, books and puzzles, numerous boxes and bags of other miscellaneous items, and one very generous check payable to the American Red Cross. All items and the financial support have now been delivered to Anchorage — new items to the main distribution center, used items to the Salvation Army Alaska Division, and food to Beans Cafe.

The needs are ongoing and ever-changing with the greatest needs currently being, according to the Red Cross, for new shoes and clothing for adults and children and new duffel bags and suitcases. Donations of new items can be made at the Chugach Warehouse in downtown Anchorage, which is serving as the centralized donation operation management center, 1120 E. 1st Avenue, open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Donations of gently used items can be made to The Salvation Army Alaska Division at their Family Store & Donation Center at 300 W. Northern Lights Boulevard. The Alaska Native Heritage Center is seeking donations of traditional Alaska Native foods, including whale, moose, salmon, hooligan, halibut and other customary foods, frozen and harvested within the past year. You can sign up for donation windows at loom.ly/-wCU7Uc. Financial support can be made to, among others, the American Red Cross (www.redcross.org/donate/dr/alaska-storms-floods-2025), the Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund through the Alaska Community Foundation (www.alaskacf.fcsuite.com), and the Kipnuk Village Relief Fund (www.gofundme.com/KipnukVillageReliefFund). To stay up to date on the disaster relief efforts, you can follow the American Red Cross of Alaska on Facebook.

I’m grateful to this community for showing such tremendous kindness, compassion, and generosity. Thank you all.

Christina Whiting

Homer

World arts festival celebrates another successful year

Alaska World Arts would like to thank the Homer area community and our 2025 festival sponsors, supporters, volunteers and partners, including the Alaska State Council on the Arts, the Opportunity Fund at the Homer Foundation, Land’s End Resort, Homer Chamber of Commerce, Patrice Krant & Rick Rosenbloom, Alaska Adventure Cabins, Homer Art & Frame, Alice’s Champagne Palace, Salmonfest, Salmon Sisters, Homer Council on the Arts, Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, the Porcupine Theater and Homer Nutcracker Productions.

Together we successfully and creatively connected throughout our seventh annual Alaska World Arts Festival. It’s an honor to share the remarkable talents of local and visiting artists. We showcased stories, music, dance, theater, film, comedy and love for the magic we bring as performers and audience members.

We look forward to sharing more laughter, inspiration and joy with you throughout the coming year.

Alaska World Arts Board of Directors and staff

Thank you for supporting high school athletics

Homer High School would like to thank South Peninsula Hospital for their generous donation in support of our athletics programs. SPH’s contribution played a vital role in helping us purchase custom-branded athletics chairs for the Alice Witte Gymnasium, enhancing the experience of our athletes, students and community members during home events.

We are proud to showcase South Peninsula Hospital’s name on the back of every chair as a valued partner in these efforts. Thank you for investing in our students and helping create an environment that encourages teamwork, perseverance and community engagement!

Justin Zank, athletics director

Homer High School

This is America First?

Initially, the Trump Administration pledged to cut 83,000 jobs at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Since then the projected loss is more in line with 40,000 vacated positions. In August alone, hundreds of doctors and nearly 2,000 nurses left the VA along with far too many mission-critical people, like pharmacists and medical assistants. Especially troubling is the elimination of VA research positions — this callous across-the-board firing is decimating research to prevent veteran suicide, build life-changing prosthetics, address opioid addiction, and more. Life-saving research is now unimportant just as cancer and heart disease research has been killed or curtailed. This is America First ? Our boot-licking Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Doug Collins, is following the Project 2025 blueprint. He is purposely making working there miserable and unsustainable. As doctors leave, he won’t replace them. When the system collapses, he’ll say it was Biden’s fault and privatize it all to the insurance and healthcare industry that will make billions. This is the plan and the Republican Congress is happily letting this happen.

On Nov. 1, America faces a sharp reduction in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that helps feed our hungry. Far too many of our hungry are veterans and their families. And so we hurt them all again. The Trump administration is finding tens of billions of dollars to bail out Argentina’s economic collapse while ordinary Americans are suffering. I am obviously failing to understand this America First concept.

Michael A. LeMay, U.S. Army and Vietnam veteran

Homer