Garden Club shares the wealth
<p>The Coeur d'Alene Garden Club distributed approximately $13,000 to nine local non-profit agencies Thursday. The funds were raised through the organization's annual garden tour. Photographed, from left, John Corcoran, with ElderHelp of North Idaho, Janie Givas, from Children's Village, Kacie Zimmerman, from the North Idaho Violence Prevention Center, Kim Normand, with the Shared Harvest Community Garden, Tom Lucas, with ElderHelp of North Idaho, Karen Carstens, president of the Coeur d'Alene Garden Club, Kristen Childers, Hayden Meadows fourth grade teacher, Sandra Gunn, from CASA, Be…
COEUR d'ALENE - Every little bit counts these days.
That was the consensus among the several charities that welcomed checks on Thursday from the Coeur d'Alene Garden Club, which handed out the roughly $13,000 raised by this summer's Garden Tour.
"This is what it's all about for us," said Garden Tour chair Bonnie Warwick. "This is total gratification."
The groups that collected envelopes of donations included: North Idaho College dual enrollment program, Hayden Meadows Elementary Greenhouse, the Kootenai Humane Society, North Idaho Violence Protection Center, Children's Village, ElderCare, Shared Harvest, Court Appointed Special Advocates and ICARE.
The extra coin will help Hayden Meadows purchase plants and potting materials for its garden program, said teacher Vern Harvey.
"It's a lot tighter," Harvey said of school funding, adding that 600 students participate in the program. "So we're incredibly grateful for every nickel and dime."
Pam Noah, development coordinator of the NIC Foundation, said the college's share will provide scholarships for individuals dually enrolled in high school and college classes.
The scholarships are targeted to "low-income, but highly motivated" individuals, Noah said.
"There is no other available assistance, no financial aid, because they're still in high school," she pointed out. "It's a barrier. One book can be as much as $200 or $300."
Shared Harvest will put its check toward supplies for the community garden, said founder and President Kim Normand.
Harvested food is distributed to assistance facilities, she said.
"We're helping all the groups here today," Normand said. "Anybody who needs food, we give them fresh, organic produce weekly."
The dollars raised by the Garden Tour this year were about on par with last year, Warwick said.
A victory, she added, in the midst of economic pressures.
But maybe folks are finding they can save by attending low-cost events like the tour of local residents' gardens, Warwick said.
"In time of a tough economy, people are hunkering down, spending more time at home, entertaining," she said. "I think all those things do well for us."