Alaska Native Heritage Center collects traditional foods for typhoon relief

The Alaska Native Heritage Center is collecting traditional Native food donations for families displaced by Typhoon Halong, with video instructions now available showing donors where to deliver contributions at the center's Anchorage campus.

In a mission-focused article, the Alaska Native Heritage Center described coordinating donations and distributions of traditional Alaska Native foods for families affected by Typhoon Halong in Western Alaska, assembling Native Food Family Packs and providing food for community gatherings. Marit Carlson-Van Dort described the scale of the displacement: "There was a large, about 1,600 people displaced."

On September 30, 2022, the Alaska Community Foundation announced the creation of the Western Alaska Disaster Relief Fund, developed with local, regional, and statewide partners to support Western Alaska communities impacted by severe storms including Typhoon Halong. The fund accepts contributions online, by mail, and by phone.

Donors delivering traditional foods to the Alaska Native Heritage Center should sign up for donation windows and park near a freezer located by the Feller Building on the administrative side of the campus. The center requests subsistence or frozen traditional foods harvested within the past year, including bulk frozen vegetables and meats. Families affected by the typhoon can contact the center to receive food packs.

Donors can reach the Alaska Native Heritage Center at [email protected] or (907) 205-0068 to coordinate deliveries, or call the center's main line at (907) 330-8000.