The Alaska Project
The Alaska Project is a retreat property created by The 98 Fund to serve and connect families of the fallen, veteran support organizations, and volunteers. During week-long experiences, visitors honor their loved ones and friends with daily memorials, create lasting relationships in the vast beauty of Alaska, and participate in meaningful projects at the site.
Care in Action
Over 500 people have participated in The Alaska Project since its inception, including over 100 survivors.
The Alaska project was initiated with the desire to care for children of our fallen by providing mentorship and experiences with people who knew and/or served with the parent they lost. From that idea this program has grown and evolved into a retreat that serves not only families of our fallen, but veterans from all branches of service. Our property now serves not only The 98 Fund, but a variety of other corporations and non-profits seeking a place to bring people and connect with each other, nature, and the values they hold dear. To learn more about the property and inquire about hosting your own retreat, please contact us at….
Alaska Project Retreats
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2023 Retreat
This year’s retreat focused on property improvements and hosting survivor families, friends of the Fund, and other charity organizations who help support our mission.
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2022 Retreat
During the 2022 retreat, hundreds of volunteers across several weeks helped us complete building the last five dry cabins, as well as the memorial trail and water pump.
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2021 Retreat
This retreat was dedicated to the spouses and family members of the fallen. Together, we hiked Gold Star Peak (a now annual event). The rest of the itinerary included experiences tailored to each participant’s requests which made their time together truly unique and especially meaningful.
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2020
Unable to proceed with the planned events for the 2020 retreat, dedicated board members and volunteers used the time during a pandemic summer to continue making property improvements and start the painstaking work of moving the care-taker’s cabin from the original property site to our new permanent home along the Little Su River.
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2019
In 2020 the Fund sponsored several of the fallen’s family members for a week in Alaska. Together, they participated in actives their fallen parent loved: land navigation, salmon fishing, and horseback riding. Everyone also had the opportunity to hike Gold Star Peak.
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2018
Children from two fallen classmates shared their summer retreat together. One family built their father’s dream tree fort and another built a table for future visitors to enjoy. The children also climbed Gold Star Peak in honor and remembrance of their father.
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2017
Final preparations and lessons learned from the first summer became integrated into what would become the Alaska Project. The DeRocchi family sponsored events centered at the Hatcher Pass location (site of The MAJ Paul Voelke Memorial Bridge).
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2016
The bulk of the 2016 retreat was spent building the site for The Alaska Project. We learned many lessons from our first retreat that have continued to flow into every retreat since.
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2015
The DeRocchi families provided complete support to test The 98 Fund’s proof of concept for the Alaska Project. This retreat laid the foundation for the project.
Get Involved
Interested in joining us in Alaska? We are always grateful for help from volunteers! Whether it is time, money, or materials, your generous support is so vital to our mission.
In addition to hosting retreats for the veterans and families we support, we also make our property available to other organizations via site rentals. Please inquire if you or your organization would like to host your own group at the Alaska Project.