8th Annual Afognak Youth Charity Golf Tournament

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — On Thursday, July 11^th, the 8^th Annual Afognak Youth Charity Golf Tournament will be held at the Anchorage Golf Course.

The event provides a great networking opportunity for participants to connect with leaders of Alaska Native Corporations, the resource development industry, large financial institutions, and many other Alaska business leaders, such as GCI, Koniag, Inc., Marsh and McLennan, KeyBank, and Odom. Afognak is excited to welcome celebrity guest, Gabby Lemieux, a member of the Shoshone Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation who made history by becoming the first Native American to compete in the US Women’s Open. She was also the first Native American on the Epson Tour and the LPGA Tour. Ms. Lemieux is committed to supporting Native youth to explore golf and has used her platform to uplift Native youth and communities.

To date, the Tournament has raised almost $500,000 for Tribal youth programs operated by the Native Village of Afognak and the Native Village of Port Lions in the Kodiak Archipelago. Afognak Native Corporation supports the following Tribal youth development programs as part of its responsibility to strengthen Ag’wanermiut “Afognak people”:

• Dig Afognak Camp – Alutiiq youth culture camp operated since 1998 for youth ages 10 to 14 and families; Alutiiq Language & Music Camp and Harvesting & Survival Camp are highlights of the summer camp season.

• Afterschool & Alutiiq Week Cultural Activities

• Cultural Workshops – traditional food preparation and processing

• Alutiiq Language Resources – supports family language nights and other programs

• Preschool Program Activities – support for hosting preschool graduation

• Family Activities Program – support for youth activities with family engagement several times per week

These programs are an invaluable way for young people to learn the Alutiiq language and to practice traditional harvest, survival skills, and healthy relationships. They provide intergenerational opportunities for the Alutiiq community to share cultural learning, skill building in their homelands, and to celebrate and invest in our youth.

Corporate and business sponsors can still support and be recognized at the event! Contact Ana Fisk, Tournament Co-Director, at 907-244-4377 or afisk@afognak.com, or visit the Afognak Youth Charity Golf Tournament webpage at www.afognakgolf.com.

Afognak Native Corporation is an Alaska Native village corporation serving the Kodiak Alutiiq people of Afognak and Port Lions.

CONTACT:   Malia Villegas, Senior Vice President, Community Investments, malia@afognak.com, 907-222-9587

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