The Tahoe Fund and Friends of Ski Run today announced the extension of their matching campaign for Ski Run Community Park. After meeting the initial $75,000 goal, the two organizations are now working toward a $100,000 match to build a custom bouldering wall in the park. 

“We were blown away by the overwhelming support from our donors and community members who gave generously to help bring a new park to the Ski Run neighborhood,” said Amy Berry, CEO of the Tahoe Fund. “This inspired us to keep doubling donations until we reach our new goal of $100,000 to add a custom boulder wall to the park.”  

Ski Run Community Park will be built on an empty 0.57-acre lot that has become an unofficial playfield for the neighborhood. Four families, Wynn and Lauren Ruji, Lincoln and Galena Else, Chris and Viktoria McNamara, and Corey and Marina Rich purchased the lot—which was once home to the Slalom Inn and has sat vacant for over 20 years—with the dream of creating a community park.

The new park will feature an iconic play structure, a plaza and mural wall, and a large community table. With the funds raised through the matching campaign extension, the park will also include a custom bouldering wall for climbers of all levels. The wall will be created by Entre-Prises, a company that designs and installs climbing and bouldering walls throughout North America.

“The Ski Run neighborhood has come together to make this dream a reality,” said Devin Middlebrook, mayor of South Lake Tahoe. “This matching campaign extension will make this park even more fun for the thousands of kids who live here.”

Support for the new park has been provided by Vail Resorts, Friends of Ski Run, Sierra Sustainable Builders, Ben Fish, Novus Select, GearLab, City of South Lake Tahoe, Tahoe Fund, M. “Elie” Alyeshmerni & Ski Run Marina, Lisa Maloff, T-Mobile, Heavenly Mountain Resort, Pay It Forward Project, Mountain Luxury Properties, Edgewood Tahoe Resort, El Dorado Community Foundation, Caesars Foundation, American Century Championship, Barton Health, Safeway, Ski Run Center, Sierra Con, and over 50 Tahoe Fund donors. 

Local partners including SOS Outreach, Barton Health, Heavenly Mountain Resort, and the League to Save Lake Tahoe are also supporting the park by creating historical and environmental education signage, offering bilingual education workshops on exercise, health, and nutrition, and organizing neighborhood clean ups. 

To donate today, visit https://www.tahoefund.org/projects/active-projects/ski-run-community-park/. 

Over 1,200 votes were cast in the art installation contest hosted by Tahoe Fund and Clean Up The Lake 

After a heated competition, the Tahoe Fund and Clean Up The Lake announced that the new art installation created from some of the 25,000+ pounds of litter removed from Lake Tahoe will take the form of a bald eagle holding a Lahontan cutthroat trout. Over 1,200 votes were cast in the contest to determine the sculpture’s design, with the bald eagle and trout combination taking first place over the Sierra Nevada red fox and Lahontan cutthroat trout. 

Following the unprecedented year-long scuba clean-up of Lake Tahoe by Clean Up The Lake, the Tahoe Fund with support from Tahoe Blue Vodka, commissioned artists to create a sculpture using some of the recovered items from the Lake. “Surfaced,” depicting the bald eagle and trout, will be created by internationally recognized artists Joel Dean Stockdill and Yustina Salnikova with production by the art agency Building 180. Once complete, it will become a permanent art installation at the new Tahoe South Events Center to educate visitors about what lies beneath Tahoe’s blue waters.

“Over the past year, our dive team collected over 12 tons of litter. The artists are going to have some really interesting pieces to work with as they create their next masterpiece,” said Colin West, founder and executive director of Clean Up The Lake. “What I’m most excited about though is that this sculpture will be a lasting reminder of the importance of the effort each of us need to take to prevent litter from reaching the depths of Lake Tahoe.”

“This contest was a great way to make every person who voted part of the Clean Up The Lake story,” said Amy Berry, Tahoe Fund CEO. “All three of these endangered animals call Tahoe home and serve as an important reminder that we need to take care of the lake — for each other and for them.”

The new Tahoe South Events Center, scheduled for opening in early 2023, will feature two levels: an event floor, suites, conference and meeting room level, as well as an event lawn area. Seating for up to 6,000 will be available for concerts, performing arts, trade shows, and sporting exhibitions along with a seasonal micro-transit system. It is expected to host up to 130 events a year with opportunities to expand visitation into shoulder seasons and mid-week periods. The anticipated economic impact to the entire community is estimated at $40-60 million per year. When completed the center will employ around 15 full-time staff members and between 200 to 300 part-time staff to run the events. 

Tahoe Fund is pleased to announce board member Cory Ritchie as our new board chair. In addition, we have added new firepower to our small but mighty team. Caitlin Meyer joins us from Senator Feinstein’s office as our first Chief Program Officer and Caroline Waldman has been hired as our Communications and Program Director.

A member of the Tahoe Fund Board and Executive Committee since our inception in 2010, Ritchie has served as vice chair for two years. During her tenure, she has been keenly focused on the completion of projects like the acquisition of Johnson Meadow that preserve open space, provide recreational access and have high conservation value. Ritchie is also a huge supporter of programs that get kids outdoors and close the “adventure gap” such as Generation Green, Adventure Risk Challenge, SOS Outreach and the Boys & Girls Club’s efforts to get kids on bikes. She succeeds Allen Biaggi as board chair, a role Biaggi held for two years. He will remain on the Tahoe Fund Board of Directors.

Caitlin Meyer joins the Tahoe Fund from California Senator Dianne Feinstein’s office where she worked for over eight years, most recently as a senior aide handling forestry, wildfire and water policy. As Chief Program Officer, she will lead the Tahoe Fund’s forest health, lake clarity and transportation initiatives in collaboration with the board of directors and project partners. She will also be responsible for helping to secure public funding for environmental improvement projects in Tahoe through legislative work.

Prior to the Tahoe Fund, Caroline Waldman was the communications manager for United Way Worldwide, handling outreach campaigns for education, financial stability, and health programs. In her new role as Communications and Program Director, she will manage the communications and outreach initiatives of the organization. Additionally, she will work with the board of directors to aid in the development and management of the Tahoe Fund’s stewardship and sustainable recreation project portfolio.

“Twelve years ago, I decided I wanted to give back to our Tahoe community. As a parent of young children, it was important to me to be efficient with my time, yet make a big impact,” said Cory Ritchie, Tahoe Fund board chair. “It’s been very rewarding to be part of such an effective and efficient organization. We couldn’t do any of it without our project partners; collaboration is key to our success. I’m incredibly proud of all that we’ve accomplished together, and excited about what’s to come.”

“I’m thrilled to have Cory as our new board chair, and to have Caitlin and Caroline on board to help us advance our efforts to complete more environmental projects in the Tahoe Basin,” said Amy Berry, Tahoe Fund CEO. “The depth of experience and commitment all three of these women bring to our team is tremendous, and I’m excited to see what their leadership will help us do next!”

The Tahoe Fund is a nonprofit organization that supports environmental improvement projects that restore lake clarity, expand sustainable recreation, promote healthier forests, improve transportation and inspire greater stewardship of the region. Learn more about the Tahoe Fund and its current and completed projects at www.tahoefund.org.