Gesa Credit Union and the Gesa Community Foundation recently announced the recipients of the 2026 Local Heroes Grant Program, awarding 49 grants totaling more than $600,000 to organizations serving firefighters, law enforcement officers, educators, health care workers and veterans across the Pacific Northwest.
In Lewis, Thurston and Grays Harbor counties, the grants were awarded to Family CIRCLES ($24,000), South Beach Firefighter Community Support Foundation ($12,011), Lewis County Fire District 1 ($7,770) and Black Lake Elementary ($1,575).
Each time a member uses their Local Heroes Affinity debit card, Gesa donates to the Gesa Community Foundation fund tied to that card’s hero category. These donations accrue for a year before the foundation awards them to organizations serving that group.
The Foundation awarded grants across all five hero categories:
• Veterans: more than $249,000 across 14 organizations
• Educators: more than $110,000 across 13 organizations
• Firefighters: more than $93,000 across nine organizations
• Healthcare workers: more than $79,000 across seven organizations
• Law enforcement: more than $67,000 across six organizations
This year’s recipients stretch from the Odessa Fire Department in Lincoln County to Linn County Veteran Services in Albany, Oregon.
Grants will replace an aging fire hose for the South Beach Regional Fire Authority in Westport, add defibrillators to Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office patrol vehicles, equip the Family Birth Center at Trios Health in Kennewick and help Inland NW Honor Flight carry Spokane-area Veterans on its twice-yearly trips.
“Every one of these 49 grants began with members using their Local Heroes debit cards for everyday purchases, an action which grew to more than $600,000 this year,” Amber Merrill, community relations manager at Gesa Credit Union, said in a news release. “That money is now replacing worn turnout gear for rural fire departments, adding ballistic helmets for K9 deputies and expanding counseling for Veterans across the region. The credit belongs to the members who chose these cards and to the organizations doing this work every day.”
Funds for the 2027 grant cycle are already building toward next year’s awards.
