Youngsters reach new heights with help from Tristan Hite

Meet Tristan Hite, North Idaho native and co-founder of the Moore For Youth Foundation.

Generation: I am technically a millennial, but I am close enough to the Gen X cutoff that I feel like I am something in between the two. Gen XM, can that be a thing?

Career and community involvement: I have been in the financial industry for 16 years now and am still absolutely in love with my career. I get to help my clients fulfill their financial dreams every day. I volunteer as often as I can and I am currently the treasurer for Woodland Middle School as well as an ambassador for the Rathdrum Chamber of Commerce, on top of being president of the Moore For Youth Foundation. I am what some may call a "busy bee."

Parental status: Proud mother of two amazing kiddos.

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1. Why did you and your sister start the Moore for Youth Foundation?

My sister, Angela Sullivan, and I were inspired to start the Moore For Youth Foundation in memory of Sgt. (Greg) Moore in 2016. Sgt. Moore was an amazing man, a loving father and husband, as well as a valued and respected member of our home town. His loss devastated our community greatly. The outpour of support, however, was beautiful. We want his memory, and any other fallen community members, to live on through this foundation. We wanted to do something to ensure that here in North Idaho, as ever growing as it is, we continue to raise and inspire our youth to grow into the wonderful people that we share this Idahome with today. We grew up here and are raising our children here too. We see kids in our community every day who deserve to be recognized for simply being good people. We want our kids to know that you don’t have to have the highest test scores or be on a varsity team to be celebrated in our home town. Honor and integrity, respect, courage, leadership and community involvement are among the categories that we will be awarding our youth for.

2. What events has the Moore for Youth Foundation been involved in, and what's coming up?

A large part of our mission is to bring youth together in the community through volunteerism, so our main focus thus far has been finding and connecting our youth with volunteer opportunities. We’ve volunteered at the Sgt. Moore Memorial Hockey Game selling 50/50 raffle tickets. We have worked closely with the Kootenai County Fairgrounds, from painting fences to painting faces. We have volunteered for Duns’N’Roses Ranch for their annual equestrian event. We recently volunteered with the Coeur d'Alene Symphony Orchestra. We are always on the lookout for fun volunteer events to get kids involved in giving back to their community. There is a lot on the horizon for us as well. We have Facebook and Instagram, which is the best place to check for up-to-date events and volunteer opportunities.

3. Why is it important to encourage youths to and give back to their community?

Volunteering is not only good for the soul, it teaches our youth confidence, professionalism and kindness. Volunteering helps to mold our future leaders into people who care about their community and who give freely from their hearts. Through this group, we connect kids with other like-minded kids. They get to meet peers from different schools and different cities in our little North Idaho nook. They get to learn, inspire and be inspired all while giving back to this community of ours that is so incredibly unique and special.

4. What is something people would be surprised to learn about you?

My childhood dream was to be a nurse. I was a candy striper at Kootenai Health when I was in my young teens, a courtesy nurse at 17 and a CNA from 18 to 21. I wanted to help people and loved every aspect of it, except for needles. Needles, I cannot do. Trust me, you wouldn’t want me coming at you with a needle. So, I adjusted my course and realized I did not have to be a nurse to help people! I am deep in my career at Washington Trust Bank and still get to help people every single day. The culture with this company gives me goose bumps. My leadership team is why the Moore For Youth Foundation even exists. They are our cornerstone sponsors and believed in us enough to fund our start-up.

5. What are your hopes for the future of your foundation and our area?

My hopes and my dream for the Moore For Youth Foundation is for it to inspire people — inspire people to recognize our youth and praise our unspoken heroes. All the work we have put into this event really comes down to the number of nominations we can get, so SPREAD THE WORD. We want these kids to experience an Emmy Award-worthy kind of night, where they get to dress up and feel the pride that comes with being appreciated, recognized and celebrated for being good people. We want to create a network of kids to volunteer and help make our community even more inspiring than they already are. Follow our page and if you know a kid, from kinders to seniors, who has done something KIND or KIND OF AMAZING, please nominate them! It doesn’t cost anything and anyone can nominate! For information, visit www.mooreforyouth.com.