10/07/2026
Thank You to the Ely Strong Project!!
The Ely Strong Project concluded with a donation of $8,800.62 to Ely Community Resource. The project, started by local graphic designer Bethany Hway, featured her original artwork celebrating the strength of Ely in the face of this summer’s unprecedented wildfires.
The artwork was printed on posters, stickers, apparel and tote bags and sold at the Ely Farmer’s Market and online and in-store at Wintergreen Northern Wear. W.A. Fisher Printing of Virginia, MN donated the printing of the posters, SmartPress of Chanhassen, MN donated the printing of stickers, Dirty Dog Manufacturing of Ely donated some in-kind services and greatly discounted the printing of all apparel, and Wintergreen served as the project retail partner, selling and shipping the products throughout August and September.
100% of proceeds from the project went to Ely Community Resource. A portion will be set aside in a wildfire emergency fund for any families needing assistance with food, housing costs or living expenses due to loss of income from the fires’ impact on Ely’s economy this summer.
The rest will go towards hiring additional staff to help run ECR’s Friday programming, which ensures that Ely’s youth have fun and educational activities to do on Fridays, now that the local school is operating on a four-day week. Nearly all inventory from the project sold out, and the few apparel items that remain will be available at ECR’s annual fundraising Art Auction to be held in March 20, 2027 at the Ely Historic State Theater.
