The Salvation Army Alaska Division is headquartered at 143 East 9th Avenue in Anchorage, Alaska 99501. The division is one of nine regional headquarters in the Western US and oversees the Salvation Army's work across the state. The Alaska Division serves 18 communities across Alaska, offering homeless shelter, youth programs, summer camp experiences, food for the hungry, daily senior meal delivery and community meal sites, dual-diagnosis addiction treatment, senior day care services, emergency disaster response, and spiritual comfort. The Salvation Army's ministry in Alaska began in 1898 and quickly spread throughout communities in Southeast Alaska, expanding north to Anchorage and Fairbanks by the 1950s. Alaska winters are severe across most of the state, and heating oil (the primary heat source for many Alaska homes) is extraordinarily expensive in rural communities where it must be flown in by small plane. The Salvation Army's utility assistance and emergency heating help is among the most critical services in a state where winter temperatures routinely reach -30 degrees Fahrenheit or below in the interior.
The year-round work in Alaska is calibrated to the state's specific challenges: severe winters, vast geographic distances between communities, high costs of living in rural areas, the boom-and-bust cycles of resource-extraction employment, and the particular challenges facing Alaska Native communities. The Alaska Division's program catalog includes homeless shelter, youth programs, summer camp experiences, food for the hungry, daily senior meal delivery and community meal sites, dual-diagnosis addiction treatment, senior day care services, emergency disaster response, and spiritual comfort.
The daily senior meal delivery is one of the more distinctive programs the Alaska Division operates at scale; the program is calibrated to the high proportion of seniors aging in place in Alaska communities where institutional senior services are limited compared with the lower 48. The dual-diagnosis addiction treatment programming addresses the intersection of substance abuse and mental health concerns, which are both prominent challenges in Alaska given the state's high rates of suicide, alcohol-related deaths, and isolation-driven mental health crises.
The Anchorage Salvation Army is the largest single hub in the Alaska Division. The divisional headquarters at 143 East 9th Avenue coordinates programs across all 18 communities the division serves. Anchorage operations include emergency shelter, food pantry, after-school programs, holiday assistance, daily senior meal delivery, and emergency rent and utility assistance. Leesa Peter serves as a primary contact for the division at (907) 339-3429.
The Clitheroe Center is the Salvation Army Alaska Division's dual-diagnosis addiction treatment facility in Anchorage. The Center provides residential treatment that addresses both substance abuse and co-occurring mental health conditions, a programming approach that recognizes the frequent overlap between addiction and mental health challenges. The Clitheroe Center is one of the institutional anchors of the Alaska Division.
The Anchorage Red Kettle Campaign is the largest in the state. Anchorage corporate sponsors, individual contributors, and media partnerships support the campaign that funds significant portions of the following year's emergency assistance programs across Alaska. The Anchorage Salvation Army has been an active community institution for many decades.
The Fairbanks Salvation Army serves the Fairbanks North Star Borough and surrounding interior Alaska communities. Fairbanks winters are among the most severe in the state, with temperatures routinely reaching -40 degrees Fahrenheit or below. The Fairbanks operations include emergency shelter, food pantry, holiday assistance, and emergency heating assistance referrals.
The interior Alaska coverage area is one of the most geographically challenging in the United States. Communities like Nenana, Tok, Delta Junction, and Fort Yukon are connected to Fairbanks by the road network, but many others are accessible only by small plane or seasonal river barge. The Salvation Army's interior Alaska operations rely heavily on emergency assistance referrals and Service Extension volunteers in remote communities.
The Juneau Salvation Army serves Alaska's state capital and the surrounding Southeast Alaska region. Juneau operations include emergency shelter, food pantry, holiday assistance, and emergency assistance. The Salvation Army's ministry in Alaska began in 1898 in Southeast Alaska, making the Juneau and Sitka operations among the oldest Salvation Army installations in the state.
Sitka Corps serves Sitka and surrounding Southeast Alaska communities. Ketchikan Corps serves Ketchikan and the southernmost portion of Southeast Alaska along the British Columbia border. Petersburg Corps serves Petersburg in the central panhandle. These Southeast Alaska communities are connected primarily by Alaska Marine Highway System ferry service and air travel; the road network is extremely limited in this region. The Salvation Army's Southeast Alaska corps work closely with Alaska Native tribal social services networks.
The Wasilla Salvation Army serves the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, one of the fastest-growing regions in Alaska. The Mat-Su Valley's population has grown significantly as a residential commuter zone for Anchorage workers, and the Salvation Army's Wasilla operations have grown to match. Kodiak Corps serves Kodiak Island and surrounding Gulf of Alaska communities; the Kodiak operations have particular disaster response capacity for fishing industry emergencies and seismic events.
Bethel Corps serves Bethel and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region in western Alaska. The Y-K Delta has a predominantly Alaska Native population, and the Salvation Army's Bethel operations are calibrated to work alongside the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation and other tribal services. Cordova Corps serves Cordova on Prince William Sound. Other Alaska communities served by the division include Homer, Seward, Valdez, Palmer, Soldotna, and others, often through volunteer-driven Service Extension programs.
Alaska's heating cost burden is among the highest in the United States. Rural Alaska communities (especially those off the road system) pay enormous prices for heating oil that must be delivered by small plane or seasonal river barge. Heating oil prices in remote villages can be three to five times higher than in Anchorage or Fairbanks. The Salvation Army's utility assistance and emergency heating help in these communities is among the most critical services the division provides.
The Alaska Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides federal funds for heating cost assistance, but the program's per-household allocations often fall short of actual heating cost burdens in rural Alaska. The Salvation Army handles cases where LIHEAP funds have been exhausted or where applicants do not qualify for the federal program because of specific income or documentation issues. Disconnection prevention is the core goal: getting emergency funds to fuel providers and utility companies before shutoff dates.
Pick.Click.Give. is the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) charitable giving program. Alaska residents who apply for the annual PFD can designate part of their dividend to charity through the Pick.Click.Give. program. The Salvation Army Alaska is one of the participating charities. Donations are applied to the community in which donors reside unless directed by the donor to be applied elsewhere.
The Pick.Click.Give. program is one of the more unusual charitable giving mechanisms in the United States. The PFD is a payment made annually to every Alaska resident from the state's oil revenue investment fund. The program leverages the universal nature of the PFD to channel charitable giving to Alaska nonprofits including the Salvation Army Alaska Division.
When SNAP benefits paused in November 2025 during the federal shutdown, Alaska had roughly 90,000 residents on the program. The Salvation Army Alaska corps activated additional food distribution. Anchorage operations moved to multiple distributions per week. Fairbanks, Juneau, Sitka, Wasilla, Kodiak, Ketchikan, and other Alaska corps ran additional pantries through November and December.
Alaska had simultaneous challenges in October 2025 with Typhoon Halong impacting Western Alaska coastal communities, requiring disaster response operations to overlap with the SNAP-related food distribution surge. Food Bank of Alaska in Anchorage, Fairbanks Community Food Bank, and other Alaska food banks coordinated with the Salvation Army on overflow distribution. Bush Alaska communities relied heavily on Salvation Army emergency assistance during the combined crises.
Cash gifts at the Alaska Division site or the national salvationarmyusa.org can be designated to a specific Alaska corps. The Salvation Army Alaska Division operations roll up into the Salvation Army Western Territory, which files a single Form 990 under EIN 94-1156347. The Salvation Army national overhead ratio runs at roughly 14 percent (82 cents per dollar to program services, 11 cents to fundraising, 7 cents to management).
Red Kettle dollars from late November through Christmas Eve stay in the corps where the kettle was placed. Anchorage Red Kettle Campaign is the largest in the state. Kettles in Fairbanks stay in Fairbanks. Kettles in Juneau stay in Juneau. The Pick.Click.Give. PFD designation program is a year-round option that channels Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend dollars to the Salvation Army Alaska.
Furniture, clothing, working appliances, and household goods go to Family Stores in Anchorage and other Alaska communities. Free pickup is available for larger items at satruck.org or by calling the store. Sale revenue funds the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center and Clitheroe Center programs. Vehicle donations through Cars Helping Families; net proceeds fund local programs.
Stock, planned giving, and donor-advised fund gifts are processed through the Western Territory development office, with Alaska-specific designation available through the Anchorage division headquarters. The Western Territory development team in Long Beach California handles complex gift planning with Alaska connections.
Red Kettle bell ringing from late November through Christmas Eve is the largest single volunteer role. Sign up at registertoring.com, pick a host store and shift, show up. The Anchorage operations need hundreds of two-hour slots filled each Christmas season. Fairbanks, Juneau, Sitka, Wasilla, Mat-Su, Kodiak, and other corps need volunteer support across the state.
The Clitheroe Center has specific volunteer needs for peer mentor and recovery support roles (which require additional screening). The daily senior meal delivery program needs volunteer drivers and meal preparation support across Anchorage and the larger communities. Summer camp staff volunteer positions are available for the division's youth programming.
Year-round opportunities at corps statewide include Family Store sorting, food pantry packing, after-school program tutoring at corps with kids' programming, and holiday toy distribution. Disaster volunteer roles include earthquake response (Alaska has frequent significant seismic events), flood response, severe winter weather response, and wildfire response (Alaska wildfires have grown significantly in scale over the past two decades). Disaster roles require one or two training sessions before deployment. For corporate teams of 10 to 50 people, the Alaska Division development office in Anchorage can coordinate group volunteer days. Alaska-based companies (BP Alaska, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Alaska Airlines, GCI Communication, Alaska Communications, others) run repeat corporate volunteer programs with the Salvation Army.
The Alaska Division is part of the Salvation Army Western Territory, which has its territorial headquarters in Long Beach, California. The Western Territory files its own Form 990 covering 13 western states under EIN 94-1156347. Alaska Division-specific financial reporting is consolidated at the divisional level.
The Salvation Army National Corporation reported roughly $5.8 billion in annual revenue across all US operations. National overhead ratios run consistently at roughly 14 percent. Program services receive 82 cents per dollar; fundraising costs 11 cents; management and general 7 cents. Charity Navigator gives the Salvation Army four stars; CharityWatch rates it favorably. The Clitheroe Center, the daily senior meal delivery program, and the dual-diagnosis addiction treatment program have their own program-level reporting because of the specialized service models.
For pure food access dollars, Alaska has limited food bank infrastructure compared with the lower 48. Food Bank of Alaska in Anchorage covers the state through 137 partner agencies. Fairbanks Community Food Bank covers Fairbanks North Star Borough. Bush Alaska communities depend on more limited food security infrastructure, with the Salvation Army Service Extension network often being the most reliable resource. These food banks convert donated dollars at roughly 1:7 through bulk purchasing power, though the conversion ratio is lower for shipping costs to remote communities.
The Salvation Army's specific advantages in Alaska: deep institutional history (since 1898), the 18-community geographic reach across the state's enormous and difficult-to-serve geography, the Clitheroe Center dual-diagnosis addiction treatment (a specialized facility few other Alaska nonprofits match), the daily senior meal delivery scale, the dedicated heating cost assistance programming calibrated to rural Alaska realities, and the Pick.Click.Give. PFD designation mechanism for sustained donor support.
Practical framing: for maximum food-per-dollar in Alaska, food banks win on math. For dual-diagnosis addiction treatment, daily senior meals, heating assistance in remote communities, integrated emergency assistance across 18 Alaska communities, and disaster response capacity for earthquakes and winter emergencies, the Salvation Army Alaska Division is among the few organizations operating at that scale.
Last updated May 2026. Alaska Division headquarters address (143 East 9th Avenue, Anchorage AK 99501, phone 907-339-3429) from the LinkedIn Alaska Division company page and the MyAlaskaTix Salvation Army Alaska Division information page. Salvation Army ministry in Alaska began in 1898 and spread through Southeast Alaska, expanded north by the 1950s to Anchorage and Fairbanks, from the Be The Change 907 Alaska Division agency listing. Alaska Division serves 18 communities offering homeless shelter, youth programs, summer camp experiences, food for the hungry, daily senior meal delivery and community meal sites, dual-diagnosis addiction treatment, senior day care services, emergency disaster response, and spiritual comfort, from the Pick.Click.Give. Alaska Division organization page. Alaska Division as one of nine regional headquarters in the Western US from the salvationarmyusa.org Alaska About Us page. Leesa Peter as primary contact at 907-339-3429 from the MyAlaskaTix page. JustServe Alaska Division reference (Doing The Most Good in Alaska for more than 100 years) from justserve.org. Western Territory headquartered in Long Beach CA and Western Territory EIN 94-1156347 from publicly available Western Territory financial filings. Alaska SNAP participation (~90,000 residents) from USDA Food and Nutrition Service November 2025 communications. Typhoon Halong October 2025 reference from the largestcharities.com Alaska state-page. National revenue figure (~5.8 billion dollars) from Salvation Army National Corporation 2023 published annual report. Overhead ratio figures from Salvation Army National annual report and Charity Navigator. We are not affiliated with the Salvation Army and receive no compensation for this listing. Errors: [email protected]
More Alaska and donation resources