Yulista Prepares for 2023 CARES Backpack Campaign Visits to Y-K Region

School Supplies Heading to Seven Middle Kuskokwim Schools

Storyknife, July/August 2023 edition

Almost a decade ago, dedicated volunteers from Yulista Holding, LLC and its subsidiaries embarked on their first journey to the Calista Region, bringing backpacks filled with essential school supplies to benefit local schoolchildren.

They visited the schools in St. Mary’s and Chuathbaluk that first year.

Ever since then, Yulista’s volunteer effort has grown. This year, their project, called the Yulista CARES Backpack Campaign, will deliver backpacks to seven schools: in Aniak, Crooked Creek, Sleetmute, and Kalskag.

It’s the campaign’s first time to return to the Middle Kuskokwim sub-region since its initial visit to Chuathbaluk.

This is exciting for Yulista employees like Josette John, a Calista Corp. Shareholder who is originally from Aniak and is one of three Shareholders who serve on the Backpack Campaign’s volunteer committee.

“I am happy for my hometown to be selected for the backpack campaign this year,” says John, a Yulista Integrated Solutions, LLC project coordinator who joined the company after completing a summer internship in 2021.

“This is a good experience [for the communities] and the team from Yulista can see where I come from and what my life was like growing up. They will meet many of my family members who are excited as well,” John says.

SIGNIFICANT GROWTH

There are over 40 schools in the Calista Region, and after this year’s trip, Yulista’s campaign will have delivered backpacks and school supplies to 29 of them.

Each year, however, the campaign grows.

In fact, the total number of backpacks delivered to schools in the Calista Region and to Lower 48 schools has roughly doubled since 2019, according to statistics provided by Diana Slaughter, who chaired this year’s backpack campaign’s volunteer committee. Slaughter is a Calista Corp. Shareholder who grew up in Anchorage.

Each year, the leadership of the Yulista Backpack Campaign works in consultation with Calista staff to determine which schools to visit in the fall. The decision to visit the middle Kuskokwim villages this year happened before several of those communities were hit by some damaging floods.

“We are so excited to come back and visit the area. We have spoken to so many wonderful people throughout the villages regarding the school supplies needed and how we can support each location,” Slaughter says.

GENEROSITY

In 2023, the backpack campaign experienced rising costs for materials and supply chain issues, meaning they had to begin fundraising earlier than usual.

The fundraising campaign ran from April 3 to May 31. Volunteer committee members provided donation stations, raffle prize drawings, and prizes for top donors.

The committee beat its 2023 fundraising goal and will deliver 1,941 backpacks filled with school supplies and 400 hygiene kits across the nation this fall. The deliveries include the seven schools in the Calista Region as well as schools in Alabama, Tennessee, Arizona, Kentucky, Virginia, New Jersey, Florida and Hawaii.