Lots of birthday food ... for others

COEUR d'ALENE - Don't give Corilynne Smith gifts, cards or balloons for her 30th birthday.

The Coeur d'Alene woman wants to celebrate on Aug. 30 by being able to deliver 3,000 pounds of food to the Community Action Partnership Foodbank, and she's asking the community to help her make that happen.

Smith said she was motivated to turn her birthday into a food drive after reading a story in The Press about the food bank's ever-increasing number of people seeking assistance and the growing amount of food it takes to help them.

"I felt compelled to do something," Smith said.

She doesn't want any personal recognition for this, she said. It is her way of saying thank you to a community she has come to love since moving to North Idaho nearly five years ago.

Smith relocated to Coeur d'Alene from Hawaii. Her husband, Travis, was born in Sandpoint. Together they have two children ages 2 and 5.

Smith was born on Oahu and lived on "the big island." She had spent time on the mainland, but had never been to North Idaho.

Moving to the region was a big transition for her, she said, but the people welcomed her family with open arms.

"We have a saying back home, 'the aloha spirit,'" Smith said. "I felt it here immediately." Now, this is home, she said.

Her original goal was to collect 300 pounds of food for her 30th birthday on the 30th day of the month. Husband Travis, a construction superintendent with Viking Construction, had other thoughts.

"He went to work and said, 'We're going to outdo my wife's goal,'" she said.

Several area businesses, including Viking Construction, have agreed to support Smith's birthday endeavor, and have agreed to display collection containers.

Smith is hosting a food drive collection at her Coeur d'Alene home, 6609 N. Kite Lane, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sat., Aug. 27. The home is in the Hawk's Nest subdivision, just west of Atlas Road and north of Hanley Avenue.

She will be offering cookies and cupcakes to children who come to donate. Smith said she hopes this will inspire the kids to do something good for their community.

With her children, she recently stopped by the Community Action Partnership food bank to pick up some collection containers. It was the first time she had visited the food bank while clients were there picking up food.

"It was a really heavy experience on my heart," she said. "I just knew in that moment that we were doing the right thing."

For additional information, contact Smith by email at [email protected].