Street Music Week begins Monday
COURTESY PHOTO Jim Lyons and Jimmy Shore, of the band Flight Risk, perform for Street Music Week 2016. This year's event, all of the proceeds from which benefit Second Harvest, kicks off at noon on June 12.
COEUR d’ALENE — Downtown Coeur d’Alene will be filled with music, jugglers and others raising money for Second Harvest food bank.
Street Music Week returns to Coeur d’Alene at noon Monday. Each day through Friday, from noon to 1 p.m., musicians will line Sherman Avenue with red buckets to collect donations. This is the fourth annual Street Music Week in the Lake City. The same event will be taking place at the same time Spokane, where Street Music Week is in its 15th year.
To date close to $150,000 have been raised to feed the hungry in the region. Along with their red buckets, performers will have badges.
North Idaho has a large hunger problem.
“Last year in North Idaho, in the five counties that Second Harvest serves — Kootenai, Bonner, Boundary, Benewah, and Shoshone — we distributed more than 3.6 million pounds of food, of which about 40 percent was fresh produce,” said Julie Humphreys, spokeswoman for Second Harvest. “We serve thousands of families in North Idaho through a network of more than 40 partner food banks and pantries in those five counties and through our mobile food markets. In Kootenai County alone, we provide food to 20 agencies, including Community Action Partnership, the Post Falls Food Bank and Lake City Community Church.”
Street Music Week was started in 2003 by Spokesman Review columnist Doug Clark. The event now has spread to Appleton, Wis., as well as the Lake City.
The Art Spirit Gallery at 415 Sherman Ave. is the headquarters for the event in Coeur d’Alene.
Anyone with a talent is invited to just show up a bit before noon, get a bucket and a badge, perform for an hour and bring the bucket back at 1 p.m. Every cent goes to the food bank. All are
invited to come down and enjoy the music and support the community.
Kootenai Health is a longtime sponsor of this event.
“Proper nutrition is essential to good health,” said Kootenai Health spokeswoman Kim Anderson. “Kootenai Health is proud to support our local food banks and help make healthy foods available to our community.”
Snacktivist Foods of Coeur d’Alene is also a sponsor. Joni Moore, owner of Snacktivist said, “Here at Snacktivist, we believe that food is something more than just a full belly. We are dedicated to feeding our communities. This starts by providing food to those who can’t afford or access it.”
Humphreys said Second Harvest deeply appreciates its partnerships in Coeur d’Alene and throughout North Idaho.
“Those relationships allow us to get nutritious food to people in need. We partner with schools, churches, businesses and individuals who help us make sure every person has access to healthy food, every day. Street Music is a wonderful way for everyone to play a role in helping their neighbors. It’s fun and very easy to be part of and when you put your cash or check in the bucket you have the satisfaction of knowing you are providing a basic need — food — to someone right in your own community.
This is a rain or shine event. Come downtown and support our community. This year’s efforts are dedicated to the memory of Steve Gibbs of the Art Spirit Gallery, a longtime champion of the arts who passed away in December following a battle with ALS.
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Jim Lyons is one of the organizers of Street Music Week.