They care
<p>Nicholas Worline, 3, waits patiently in line with his siblings during a school supply giveaway Wednesday at Riverstone in Coeur d’Alene. The event, in its second year, is run by the North Idaho College wrestling team and is funded from t-shirt sales and donations collected through its “We Care” program.</p>
<p>Hyrum Eacho, 14, an incoming freshmen at Lake City High School, receives notebooks from Kelsey Stanley, NIC head volleyball coach, during the free event.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - The back-to-school shopping season is one of the most stressful times of year for parents, said North Idaho College wrestling coach Pat Whitcomb.
In some ways, getting kids ready for the first day of school puts even more pressure on moms and dads than preparing for Christmas.
"If I get my kid an Xbox for Christmas and he tells his friend about it, that friend can just say he's got one at his house too," Whitcomb said. "But on the first day of school everyone sees you and sees what sort of clothes and supplies you have."
In an effort to alleviate some of that stress, last year Whitcomb and his wrestlers raised $2,500 and gave school supplies to 400 students.
They continued the effort Wednesday, with $4,000 raised.
Starting at 10 a.m., students and their parents formed a line at the Village at Riverstone and were given yellow NIC bags.
Once inside, they had their bags filled with school supplies by athletes and other volunteers. Students were separated by age, with the older students receiving flash drives and the younger students receiving crayons along with standard supplies such as notebooks and pens.
"I love all the smiles," Whitcomb said between giving handshakes and high-fives to students who made it through the line. "We can't be everything to everyone. But we can be something to someone. That's what we're doing here."
William Marshall, a sophomore wrestler, was in the thick of the action Wednesday as he made sure the students got plenty of school supplies and pizza slices.
"It's a good event," Marshall, who volunteered last year as well, said. "You get to meet and talk to a lot of people and I really like that."
Whitcomb said the event is an important lesson for his young athletes.
"They're giving back and seeing that it's not all about them," Whitcomb said. "Our community supports us so well and we want to support them the same way."
This year it wasn't just the wrestling team handing out school supplies to local kids. Head volleyball coach Kelsey Stanley said when she saw how successful the event was last year, she had to get her team involved.
"This is such a great thing," Stanley said. "It's good for the community to come out and meet our athletes and for those athletes to show that they care and give back."
NIC President Joe Dunlap, who was at the event, said what the coaches were really doing was giving their athletes a civics lesson.
"I'm so proud of them and their commitment to the community," Dunlap said. "I couldn't be happier with these types of events, and our quality staff and faculty that makes them happen."
Joy Jones, of Coeur d'Alene, went through the line with her daughter, Kianna, who is about to enter the sixth grade.
"This is just great," Jones said. "It's very helpful for a lot of families struggling in these hard economic times. It definitely helps out with the school supplies."
Kianna added that she thought all of her new school supplies were "pretty cool."
"I've got a feeling we are going to be at 750 students today," Whitcomb said with a smile before heading out to purchase more supplies. "We have 750 bags and I'm hoping we fill them all."