Commission coordinates Memorial Day plans and fundraising for 11th Air Force memorial

Commissioners spent substantial meeting time on Memorial Day planning and fundraising for the 11th Air Force memorial.

Jason, a commission member, said he circulated a link to Lowe's community projects grants—projects can receive as much as about $100,000 per grant—and proposed submitting an application on behalf of the 11th Air Force Memorial. A separate donor (Greg Spencer) was reported to have offered a check for the memorial; staff advised that donated checks should be made payable to the Municipality of Anchorage and discussed memo fields and routing so funds reach the appropriate veterans/military therapy account.

Staff (Lauren) said she will be on military leave for much of April and asked that as many tasks as possible be completed before she departs; she named Maria or Diana as likely interim contacts. The chair outlined packet requirements for Memorial Day events, stressing that the traffic plan must be included before the municipality processes requests and that traffic-plan review produces an invoice that must be included in submissions to municipal offices.

Members also discussed logistical support—chairs and PA systems—partner outreach to downtown organizations for in-kind donations, and creating a compiled directory of partner contacts (the commission agreed the directory should list titles and offices rather than only personal names). Staff agreed to prepare required forms, add chaplain and speaker requests to the packet, and circulate the full Memorial Day packet to commissioners for review before formal submission to municipal processes.