EDITORIAL: CFA: A Christmas dream came true

Pull up a chair while we toss another log on the fire.

Comfy? Good. This is a Christmas story, one worthy of telling each year around this time but particularly for those who have claimed North Idaho as home more recently.

Our story begins during a holiday season more than four decades ago.

On Dec. 12, 1980, local couple Mae and Larry Hanley were the subject of a five-paragraph story in this newspaper. The Hanleys asked readers to contact them if they had any gifts, toys, food or money to contribute to a program they decided to call Christmas for All. Their intended beneficiary was a neighbor lady who had nothing for her family at Christmas.

While the Hanleys gave Christmas for All its start — they raised something like $150 that first year, according to Press archives — local churches got involved and the program grew a little more over several years.

But it hit a low ceiling, and former Press executive Bob Paulos and owner Duane Hagadone brainstormed to see how they might help it expand. That was 36 years and $5,443,366 ago, and since then, many thousands of needy Kootenai County residents have had their holiday prayers answered.

Yes, that $5.4 million from 1986 through 2021 is the actual amount you, dear readers, have contributed. And just so you know, Larry Hanley remained a diligent donor to the program well after his wife died in 1997.

Every day from Black Friday to Christmas, The Press publishes front-page stories based on real families' needs as they seek a hand up while striving to create a better life for themselves.

But one story that should not be forgotten is how two of the key founders of this feast, Bob and Virginia Paulos, died in 2008 and 2009 respectively without ever bearing children of their own.

Press Christmas for All was their baby, and they nurtured it and helped it grow through tireless effort and boundless love.

Virginia succumbed to Alzheimer's; near the end she didn't recognize her husband.

Bob, aged and ill, lived his final days in Oklahoma, where an adoring family watched over him. It was a blessing he had earned over a lifetime.

Press Christmas for All has evolved. It has touched more lives than we can count. May we count on you this holiday season to touch still more?