From leaping into freezing waters to looping little bows on gifts for foster children, Stemilt staff participated in community events that contributed to making a positive difference to the health, wellness and education of the Wenatchee Valley in 2025.

“Stemilt has long been committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of the people who work, live and play within its community,” said Stemilt President West Mathison. “After reflecting on the past 12 months, I’m grateful to say we could partner with organizations like the Washington Apple Education Foundation (WAEF), Serve Wenatchee and Columbia Valley Community Health to uplift the Wenatchee Valley.”  

To kick off 2025, the Polar Plunge, a fundraiser event that supports Special Olympics athletes, sent 33 Stemilters and Wenatchee locals diving into the frigid waters of the Columbia River as a pledge to the cause. With 33 Stemilter participants, Stemilt raised over $1,800 for Special Olympics. Then as temperatures rose in May, Stemilt held its yearly Thomas (Tom) K. Mathison Memorial Golf Tournament in honor of the company’s late founder to raise money for Stemilt scholarships through WAEF. WAEF is a non-profit organization that helps students from tree fruit families pursue their academic goals. Hole prizes, auctions and donations helped last year’s tournament raise $165,000 for student scholarships.  

“My grandfather, Tom, was a firm believer in supporting the next generation of agriculture,” said Mathison. “The annual Stemilt golf tournament is one way we’ve been able to continue my grandfather’s legacy of making education in agriculture more accessible to aspiring graduates. Along with WAEF, we’ve had the honor of partnering with other local organizations to serve the youth in our community through opportunities like the Community Foundation of NCW’s stuff-a-sack event to reach homeless and high-risk teens and Alatheia Riding Center’s rider scholarships for special needs youth.”

As Thanksgiving came around, Stemilt embraced the season of giving and got busy packing college “survival” snack boxes for WAEF scholarship recipients and started shopping for gifts for foster children. For a 13th year, Stemilt wrapped and donated presents for 120 foster children who are associated with the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Family Services, an agency for state-funded services that support children and families to build resilience in health, and K Connections, a behavioral rehabilitation service that provides extensive case management services to children.”  

“It warms my heart to know we have the power to make a difference in the place that we live, and doing it together leads to truly amazing outcomes,” said Mathison. “I’d like to thank the Stemilt employees and our partners in the community who donated their time and money to make a greater impact on the Wenatchee Valley in 2025. The best is still yet to come in 2026!”