After Winter Flooding, Community Raises Funds for Project Santa

On Thursday, April 23, around 45 members of the public met at the Copper Valley Air Service hangar for a community potluck and dessert auction. The event was hosted by the Greater Copper Valley Chamber of Commerce, with proceeds shared between the Chamber and Project Santa, a local nonprofit that provides winter gear and Christmas presents to children and teenagers in the Copper River Basin and surrounding communities.

After a community potluck dinner, Chamber board member Nathan Helmer auctioned off dozens of desserts and gift baskets donated for the event. Bidding wars heated up for an apple caramel cheesecake, which sold for $150, and a camping and BBQ gift basket, among many other popular desserts and gift items.

This year, Project Santa has had a particularly large need after massive flooding in mid December, 2025 destroyed the area where their gifts were being stored. The flooding occurred in Joy Hall, a previous dormitory of Alaska Bible College in Glennallen. Shannon Saavedra, who helped with the cleanup effort, estimated around 16 inches of water on the floor after pipes burst in the ceilings and dumped cold water everywhere.

Thankfully, many of the Christmas gifts had already been distributed or the devastation would have been much worse. Some of the soaked items like coats were able to be washed and dried. Nevertheless, many gifts were ruined and had to be tossed (perhaps 30% of what was in storage according to Saavedra’s estimates). Joy Hall itself was deemed unsalvageable, leaving Project Santa without a permanent staging area for the gifts that founder and organizer Shilah Butler purchases around the year.

According to Julie Leper, who spoke with Saavedra on Thursday night on behalf of Project Santa while Butler was out of town, “Shilah is a force of nature” who “doesn’t sleep in November and December.” Butler shops for bargains year round to provide gifts for children and families. One of the photographs included in a Project Santa packet on Thursday night showed a receipt for over $4,000 worth of winter gear that Butler purchased on sale in the off season for $478.59.

Project Santa started in 2005 as a community project that gave gifts to 27 children. This past Christmas, even in spite of the flood damage, the nonprofit provided winter gear, books, and presents to 225 children between the ages of 0-18, serving an area that spreads from Mentasta to Chitina to Eureka.

In her letter to those who attended the dessert auction, Butler expressed appreciation for Project Santa’s “longtime partners and supporters, including the CB Lions, the American Legion, CVTC, Tazlina Store, CRBRHA, New to You, the Pregnancy Center, Copper Valley Electric, and so many others.”

The nonprofit received $1,167 from the evening’s fundraiser.