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Giving back, one tire at a time

by MADISON HARDY
Staff Writer | September 14, 2020 1:08 AM

If you buy a man a fish, he eats for one night. If you help purchase a brand new set of tires for a person in need, they can drive to the grocery store and buy a fish for years to come.

As the giving season grows nigh, the Coeur d'Alene Press is gearing up for its 35th annual Press Christmas for All program. Teaming up with local nonprofit organization Charity Reimagined, The Press hopes to offer a hand up for community members in need.

The new and improved charity program focuses on assisting Kootenai County residents by fundraising for crucial needs such as winter clothes and car repairs to help families long after Christmas is over.

Each year the donations of Press readers are given right back into the hands of county residents in need. Last year the community came together and donated $182,000. This year The Press and Charity Reimagined hope to raise even more.

Charity Reimagined is a local nonprofit that helps other charitable organizations become more effective in assisting those in need through education and resources. Their mission is to help secular and faith-based entities promote individual responsibility and strengthen the capabilities of those in need.

According to Charity Reimagined founder Maggie Lyons, those who received the services were thoroughly vetted to recommend clients for this year's program. Working with referring partners that included government agencies, nonprofits, and ministries to recommend clients for the programs, Charity Reimagined strived to find applicants actively making changes to better themselves.

"This was an award for doing something with their life like working or doing whatever they could do to be successful," Lyons said. "We want to reward that effort because it is hard; it's hard to take steps to change your life."

Lyons said this year, Charity Reimagined hopes to expand Christmas for All's reach through additional referring partners to focus on building capability and not dependency.

"The resources are needed, help is needed, but it's how the help is provided," Lyons said. "Are we building people up and making them feel dignified, or is it demeaning and promoting a lack of dignity? When we know intuitively that dependency is not healthy, why do many of our charitable efforts reinforce dependency?"

Through this idea, Press Christmas for All decided to change from a previously hand-out style charity to providing services that can change people's lives. To kick-start the change last year, The Press and Charity Reimagined partnered with Silverlake Automotive to provide vehicle maintenance at cost.

"We did all different types of repairs for people, everything from a simple brake job to tires up to having someone's seat replaced," said Fred Meyers, Silverlake automotive area operations manager. "We fixed water pumps, radiators, suspension work, and we would also do a safety check to ensure nothing else needed to be fixed."

A Post Falls native, Meyers, 33, has spent 12 years with the company. He said participating in Press Christmas for All was a great way to give back to Kootenai County.

"We're called to serve with the gifts we are given," Meyers said. "We've been given the gift of a very reputable repair facility and the gift of being able to fix cars, so we wanted to give back and be able to do that."

Between January and April of 2020, Silverlake Automotive provided 28 services to families in need.

"The people were just so grateful. Tears were shed, laughter was given, reviews happened. Now we are forever on their Christmas card list," Meyers said. "It was really neat to be a part of something like that."

Not only did the recipients enjoy the process, but so did Meyers and the other Silverlake Automotive employees.

"It came to life in front of everyone," Meyers said. "These are people in our community we may not know, but they're shopping at the grocery store just like you, and everyone involved really enjoyed just helping them."

While Silverlake Automotive enjoyed being a headliner of the program last year, Meyers believes the more, the merrier.

"If more people got on board, we could help more people," Meyers said. "If you want to have the satisfaction of giving back and doing something bigger than your little store, this is a great program to get involved with."

Information: charityreimagined.org or maggie@charityreimagined.org

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Fred Meyers, Silverlake Automotive area operations manager, reflects on experience with Press Christmas for All last year. (MADISON HARDY/Press)

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Samuel Houston, one of Silverlake Automotive's master automotive technicians, serves customers with a smile at their Hanley location. (MADISON HARDY/Press)