Katz Amsterdam opens Catalyst grants with $4.5 million for seven young nonprofits in Colorado and Utah mountain towns
The Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust announced on Oct. 20 three-year grants, mostly for general operations, to groups in Eagle County and Summit County, Colo., and Park City, Utah, that work on child care, food, immigrant legal help and youth programs.
Boulder. The Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust said on Oct. 20 that it has started the Catalyst Grant Program, a yearly round of grants for young organizations and programs serving families in mountain towns. Its first seven recipients, in Eagle County and Summit County in Colorado and in Park City, Utah, will share $4.5 million, paid as three-year grants.
Catalyst grants by recipient, three-year totals
The program funds four fields the trust says mountain families struggle with most: early childhood education, food security, immigrant services, and programs for students outside school hours. The grants are largely general operating support, which the recipients may spend on staff, systems or new programs as they choose. The trust said it intends to fund different organizations in the same four fields each year and to widen the program over time. The announcement does not say whether organizations can apply.
Seven recipients
In Park City, PC Tots, a nonprofit early learning center caring for 120 children from 8 weeks to 5 years old, receives $900,000; the trust said 80 percent of its families get scholarships. Wasatch Immigration Project, which the trust describes as the only provider of free immigration legal services in the Park City area, receives $600,000 to expand its legal team.
In Eagle County, Eagle Valley Community Foundation receives $900,000. It runs The Community Market, no cost grocery markets that serve up to 6,000 people a week, and will use the grant to bring fresh food to schools, early childhood programs and youth sites. My Future Pathways, founded in 2019 to mentor students with a focus on first generation Latino students, receives $750,000; it reaches about 2,250 students a year, roughly 37 percent of the school district.
Three Summit County groups receive $450,000 each: Mountain Dreamers of Frisco, which offers legal aid and advocacy to immigrant families and will expand into Eagle County; CAFE Food Rescue, which collects surplus food from local businesses and has rescued more than 585,000 pounds since 2022; and Smart Bellies, which brings weekend food and fresh produce to the homes of up to 1,350 children a week in Summit County, Leadville and Fairplay.
Mr. Katz, chief executive of Vail Resorts, is a co-founder of the Katz Amsterdam Foundation. The foundation and the trust say they have given more than $86 million since 2008, over $34 million of it in mountain resort communities.
The trust was founded by Rob Katz, chief executive of Vail Resorts, and Elana Amsterdam. It says it has given more than $86 million since 2008, over $34 million of it in mountain resort communities.
“When a young organization gets steady support at the right moment, the whole community benefits.”
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