Fish to Schools
Dear Editor: The Sitka Conservation Society would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the volunteers who helped us process 300 pounds of rockfish into burgers to feed Sitka’s youths last week. With the help of 15 volunteer certified food handlers, we produced over 1,300 burgers from the rockfish that was graciously donated to the Fish to Schools program by local fishermen.
We are deeply grateful to all those who made this program possible, including: Gretchen Stelzenmuller for her guidance and time leading the space at the Sitka Fine Arts Camp kitchen; the community programs and institutions for supporting the distribution of the burgers to the students; Lexi Fish, Beth Short-Rhodes, Sitka School District, and Mt Edgecumbe High School for helping initiate the Fish to Schools program over a decade ago; Seafood Producers Cooperative and Sitka Sound Seafood for tracking, storing, and processing the seafood used in the Fish to Schools program; and especially to the commercial fishermen and women who donate their product to ensure that Sitka’s next generation has connection and access to our healthy, local seafood.
The fishing community stepped up in an extremely challenging year to support the Fish to Schools program, and we cannot express enough appreciation to the folks who continue to support this initiative and its goals year after year, through good times and bad.
We are excited about this new pilot initiative that builds off the success of the Fish to Schools program and are looking forward to these burgers making their way to Sitka’s youths soon. Thank you and Gunalchéesh!
Carly Dennis for the
Sitka Conservation Society
