Christmas miracle on hold
<p>Shopko Coeur d'Alene donated $10,335 to Christmas For All. Pictured from left: Deanna Mack, Donna Dunsworth, Eric Haakenson of the Hagadone Corporation, Jeannine Frisque, Press Managing Editor Mike Patrick, Pam Kyes, Katelynne Murphy, Mistica Wright, Mackensie Savage and Erin Campbell.</p>
<p>Super 1 Foods presents the Coeur d'Alene Press with a $10,335 donation to Press Christmas For All on Monday. From left to right: Eric Haakenson with the Hagadone Corporation, Ron McIntire, president of Super 1 Foods, Larry Riley, publisher of the Coeur d'Alene Press, and Brian Howell, store director with Super 1 Foods.</p>
<p>Coeur d'Alene Press reporter Bethany Blitz accepts a $500 donation for Press Christmas For All from Jim Hightower and the employees of Domino's Pizza on Friday.</p>
Press Christmas for All elves were scurrying Friday, wrapping up as many last-minute donations as possible.
Will it be enough? Will the goal of $185,000 be reached when it’s all said and done? Will we be able to put a shiny star atop the 2016 Press Christmas for All tree like we did last year, when the goal of $175,000 was exceeded on the very last day of the campaign?
Probably not. By close of business Friday, the campaign had unofficially raised $155,710 — a huge one-day jump but still almost $30,000 short of goal.
Today the newspaper offices are closed, so whatever’s in the mail won’t be seen until Tuesday. (The post office is celebrating the Christmas holiday on Monday, as is The Press.)
For the final, official number, that will be tallied on Tuesday and reported Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Shopko and Super 1 Foods — Press Christmas for All’s indispensable partners — each contributed $10,335 to the campaign, accounting for most of the late surge.
Around 3:30 p.m. Friday, Jim Hightower, co-owner of the local Domino’s Pizza stores, dropped off a check for $500 that his employees had donated. Moments later, a nice woman who didn’t want her name mentioned stopped by with a $100 bill.
And at 4:50 p.m. Friday, Michael P. Murphy called in with a $2,000 credit card donation.
“I read in the paper that you were short and just wanted to help a couple families get what they need and deserve,” said the California resident who owns a place at Hayden Lake.
Even though we’re at the doorstep of another glorious North Idaho Christmas, there’s still time to donate to the campaign. If you’re willing to make a pledge today, please call Managing Editor Mike Patrick at 664-0227 and leave a message with your name, phone number and amount of pledge. A Press employee will contact you on Tuesday. Your donation will help ensure all 7,300 Kootenai County residents who applied for help will receive it.
Here’s wishing everyone a happy Christmas Eve and a joyous Christmas!
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Recent donors: Leslie and Larry Wilde; Nicky Cleveland, in memory of husband Tom Cleveland and great grandson Kasen Mitchell; Chris Guggemos; Michael and Beverly Brown; Mary Ellen Wilson; David and Nancy Wright; N.L. Decker; Shannon Dryden; Jean and John Willard; Anonymous; Paul and Sherry Munroe; Sandra and Frederick Ambrose; Leonard and Nyla Hodge; Bonita and Roland Koontz; VM James Family; Robert and Jody Corbin; May and Peggy Lembeck; Dennis Packer; Sandy and Jeanne Emerson; Henry and Dennis Anders: Cal J. and Corrine Meierbachtol; Laura Augusta; Matthew Douglas;
Skip Peyton Fuller; Dale J and Deborah Seagle; Diane Partridge; Garco Construction; Will and Gayle Anderson; Lauren Curala; Jeff and Kathy Carlson; Luella May McCann; Milton and Catherine Schaubul; Kathleen Moseley; Duane and Rob Jennings; Randy and Mary Ingersoll; Elizabeth Gibbons; Jan M. Pollard; Lisa Troxel; Larry Castor; Mary McLachlan; Kathy Robson in memory of Denise; Charles and Karen Groswith; Joyce Barton; William Culp;
Jan and David Moseley; Elizabeth Middlewood; Carolyn N. Hague; Cynthia and Rob Wood; Sylvia Roberts in memory of Dorothy Simpson; Kenny and Linda Johnson; Linda Schmidt; Larry Running; The Mikles; Maidy Kress; Anonymous; Blair Williams, Jim Hanson, and Logan Hanson; David and Peggy Whitman; Bob and Karen Botai; Greylan Erickson; Dave & Claudia in memory of Dan Lackman; Sheila Gary; Brown Family; Annie Bradford in memory of Brad; The McCormick Family, in Memory of Don McCormick; Gramma & Opa; Barstow Foundation, by William Dixon for his Mother; Steel Structures of America; Stefan Schwabb; Roger Salisbury; Midge Smock and Evamae Kline; The Crow Family; The Cecil Family.