Donate

Why donate?

We are committed to bringing an improved experience to our patrons year after year, but we can only do so much on our own. We greatly appreciate all who have been able to help support the CMSEC through their donations of time and money. Whenever you participate in one of our after school, weekend, and summer programs you are helping to support future developments. Direct donations help us to get new projects developed at an accelerated rate as most of our major projects must be saved up for over years. We desire as many students as possible to be able to participate in this great program. Direct donations can be specified to enable schools and individuals, normally unable to afford attendance, to participate in field trips and camps.

How is your money used?

Our operational expenses are greatly reduced thanks to the commitment and generosity of Alpine School District which covers the salary of Mr. Porter as well as most facility expenses. All other expenses for the development of new simulators, software, stories, costumes, equipment, and our student staff come from private missions and camps. Our field trips operate at or just below the cost to pay our student staff, and are supplemented by our other programs and donations. As the years go on we steadily build up a surplus which is directly invested into the program, not investors. Nearly every cent is spent on new development and maintenance. A small portion is set aside for gratuities for our volunteers.

How can I make a direct donation?

If you would like to make a direct donation you can do so through the Alpine School District Foundation using the button below. If you prefer to send a check you can fill out and send in this donation form. Donations are tax deductible. We accept in kind donation as well as money. Please contact before making an in kind donation so as to make sure we have a use for it. Previous donations have been items such as gift cards, museum passes, movie vouchers, or other items that we can share with our volunteers or teachers.

Donations while shopping with Amazon.com

If you normally do shopping on amazon.com you can now automatically donate 0.5% of your purchase price towards the one of our partner foundations: Space Education Center or Alpine School District. AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite charitable organization every time you shop, at no cost to you.

Step 1 – Visit smile.amazon.com and it will ask you to specify an organization. The organization you are supporting will be shown at the top of the screen.
Select Organization Step 2 – Find the option to pick your own charitable organization and search for “Alpine School District”
Step 3 – Select our organization. The location should say American Fork.
Step 4 – Make a purchase just as you normally do, but make sure you are on smile.amazon.com and not the regular amazon.com

So if you spent $20 we get 10¢. It isn’t much at first, but if 1% of the 67,000 students in Alpine School District made 1 purchase that’s a $67 donation for doing something they are already doing. Sign up today and don’t forget to type in smile.amazon.com the next time you make a purchase.

Previous Projects:

Here is a sample of some of our larger projects that have come about do to donations and generated funds from our private programs and camps. We look forward to the next innovation opportunity.

USS Voyager (Decommissioned) – 1990 – U.S. West, Apple Computers, USOE, United States Department of Education, Alpine School District
USS Odyssey A – 1993 – Alpine School District Foundation
USS Galileo A – 1999 – Generated Funds
Discovery Classroom – 2001 – Generated Funds
DSS Magellan – 1999 – Generated Funds
USS Falcon (Decommissioned) – 2001 – Intel
USS Phoenix – 2005 – Generated Funds
USS Magellan B – 2006 – Generated Funds
USS Galileo B – 2009 – BYU Capstone Project & Generated Funds
USS Odyssey B- 2014 – Generated Funds

A public thank you to our volunteers

One of the other aspects of the CMSEC is that we have a wonderful volunteer program that allow students and members of the community to come in and learn valuable work skills as they participate in our programs. These volunteers add an enriching aspect to the missions that are flown and so we set aside a small portion of our funds to reward them for the efforts they put in. This includes providing volunteer shirts, simulator pins, and other gratuities. Below are some of our long time volunteers and staff who have put in many unpaid hours over the years.

Major Volunteer Donors

Victor Williamson – 20+ years of service devoted to the discipline of wonder and the founder and director. Nearly every weekend, weeknight, many holidays, and every other spare minute that was needed.

10+ Years of Continuous Service: Bill Schuller, Brady Young, David Herring, Jon Parker, Lorraine Houston, Mark Daymont, Megan Warner, Metta Mundell

Please let me know if I have mistakenly left off your name.

Major Donations & Partnerships

Alpine School District continues to support our program in so many ways and truly we would’t be here without so many dedicated administrators and faculty. A special thank you to Central Elementary for being the home of the space center for over 20 years.