Angels Over Sandpoint

SANDPOINT - One of the first questions people ask about a work of art is, "What does it mean?" In general, the artist who created the piece is the last person you'd want to go to for an answer.

"I don't intellectualize my work," said Sandpoint area visual artist Amy Tessier. "It just comes out of me."

And yet, one of Tessier's recent works has taken on a new level of meaning, quite apart from anything she might have come up with. The sketch-and-pastel panel was selected as the artwork for the 2010 Angels Over Sandpoint holiday gift card - now an annual tradition that helps fill the coffers of this local volunteer aid organization.

Requests for assistance have quadrupled over the past year as people seek to tough it out in bleak economic times. With that in mind, the Angels went in search of an image that would be uplifting by comparison.

"We wanted something lively and whimsical," said Mary Ann Kraemer, who was part of the selection process. "We can all use that these days."

Sister Angel Deborah McShane penned the greeting inside the gift card, which reads: "Find gratitude and wonder in all and everything."

"That is a quality Amy has," McShane said. "She has a sense of appreciation and wonder at the world."

Although the gift cards are not the group's largest fundraiser, they are responsible for a tidy chunk of money during the winter months, when the Angels Over Sandpoint are called on to help when a family has lost a home to fire or fallen behind on heating bills, a vehicle breaks down or a senior citizen temporarily can't afford to pay for prescription medicine.

"And we're dealing a lot more now with homeless people," McShane said, adding that it is not a transient population but local residents who have lost jobs or had hours cut back to the point where they can't make rent or house payments. "This is something that's still relatively masked in Sandpoint - we do have homeless people."

The Angels provide $500 assistance grants and connect applicants - whose requests are closely screened through needs assessments and home visits - with services offered by other organizations.

"We try to give them those sources first before they come to us," Kraemer said.

When help is provided, financial assistance is paid directly to providers, such as landlords, utility companies and pharmacies.

"It's a networking idea," McShane added. "We help in small, good neighbor ways to lend a hand for people who otherwise would fall through the cracks."

Last year, the Angels Over Sandpoint raised about $35,000 through various fundraisers - or, as they prefer to describe them, "fun-raisers" - such as the "Follies" show, a New Year's Eve bash and other dances held throughout the year. The funds go to direct financial assistance, scholarships for students involved in the arts and community service and a yearly school supplies project.

Considered the group's main event, the Bonner County backpack distribution program impacts an average of about 900 kids every school year, as lower-income families become eligible for free backpacks full of things like crayons, pencils and paper. The back-to-school outreach also has included a shoe voucher program, which provides winter shoes and boots for children whose families can't otherwise afford seasonal footwear.

Angels Over Sandpoint holiday gift cards are priced at $10 each and inform the recipient that the colorful greeting will make a difference in the community. For the past several years, the group has been successful in touting the cards as a heads-up alternative to a less meaningful, last minute gift.

The message hits home: Why burden a friend with one more cheesy knick-knack when you can give a needy schoolchild a brand new backpack?

Because the organization has virtually no administrative costs, its financial firepower is not depleted on the course between those who give and those who need a hand.

"We pay our phone bill and the rest of the money goes right back into the community," McShane said. "We have no overhead."

The first holiday gift card, released in 2006, used a stock photo image. All subsequent work has been provided by local visual artists and photographers, starting with a photo by Clark Fork's Sarah Hazel in 2007, and followed by the donation of a Lake Pend Oreille scenic from Gail Lyster in 2008 and a classic Hazel Hall winter photo from Hallans Gallery last year.

This year's card - featuring a piece titled "Messenger" - puts Amy Tessier among a select group of artists whose work will now fan out to lift hearts and touch lives.

"I was honored that they thought of using my art - that meant so much to me," she said. "I love being able to help people and help the community in this way."

The 2010 Angels Over Sandpoint holiday gift cards are available in person at Petal Talk and Mad Mike's Java Joint. They can also be purchased by calling (208) 597-3670 or by e-mail at: angelcards@nctv.com

For more information on Angels Over Sandpoint, visit: www.angelsoversandpoint.org