Women's Gift Alliance gives $100K to 2024 grant recipients

COEUR d'ALENE — It's a banner year for members of the Women's Gift Alliance, who pitched in to grant $100,000 to five area nonprofits during a Thursday evening celebration in the Community Services Building at Hospice of North Idaho.

“We hit record numbers in voting on these grants,” Vice President Eleanor Lyon said. “It was 128 people who voted. That’s over 82% of our members.”

Through its pooled grant program, the alliance awarded $30,000 each to Lake City Playhouse, Kootenai County Volunteer Search and Rescue and St. Vincent de Paul North Idaho, as well as $5,000 each in finalist awards to Charity Reimagined and Shared Harvest Community Garden.

“I didn’t really prepare too much, mostly because I’m a crier,” Brooke Wood, Lake City Playhouse artistic director and board president, said during her acceptance speech.

Wood recounted the flood that nearly wiped out the nonprofit community theater in 2021.

“It took out all of our bathrooms, all of our costumes, all of our flooring had to go and we had to pretty much start from scratch because the building is 100,000 years old,” she said, making light of the playhouse's age, which is closer to 100 years.

The Lake City Playhouse team has worked to fundraise and breathe new life into the theater building, where the first play since the flood opened last fall.

Wood shared how Lake City Playhouse has been a second home for her through the years, and how it has meant so much to countless others.

"It’s a place that accepts people whose drummer is a little different than everyone else’s, and mine’s always been louder, for sure," Wood said.

She thanked members of the Women's Gift Alliance for their support of the playhouse. The funds will be used to replace outdated light and sound equipment.

“There’s going to be so many kids that benefit whose life is just a little bit harder except for when they’re on stage," Wood said.

Funds for St. Vincent de Paul North Idaho will help pay for a roof replacement. Grants development specialist and community outreach advocate Donna Brundage accepted the grant on behalf of the nonprofit.

"I must confess, when we first heard about the opportunity, we were so excited we almost jumped through our leaky ceiling," she said as attendees laughed. 

"Now, thanks to your kindness and support, we won't have to worry about raindrops falling on our heads during staff meetings anymore," Brundage said.

The $30,000 awarded to Kootenai County Volunteer Search and Rescue will be used for drone program implementation.

"We thank you — this is a huge, huge thing. We've been trying to go after these drones for a while," Kootenai County Sheriff's Office Deputy Adam Zitterkopf said as he accepted on behalf of Search and Rescue. "Apparently, technology's expensive. Who knew?" 

Charity Reimagined will use its $5,000 to support Charity Tracker, a cloud-based software platform that connects Kootenai County Idaho nonprofits, churches and service organizations to meet community needs in real-time.

Shared Harvest's share of the grant pool will help with fencing and infrastructure improvements.

The Women's Gift Alliance's mission is to pool the talents and resources of Kootenai County women to provide financial support for charitable, cultural and educational projects in the community.

The alliance's first grant, in the amount of $26,000, was awarded in 2005. In 2023, the organization awarded three $25,000 grants along with two finalist awards of $5,000 each, for a total of $85,000.

    Joan Woodward, left, with the Women's Gift Alliance, presents a $30,000 check to Donna Brundage of St. Vincent de Paul North Idaho during an awards celebration Thursday. The alliance gifted $100,000 in pooled grants to five local nonprofits.
  

    Kootenai County Volunteer Search and Rescue was awarded $30,000 Thursday evening during the Women's Gift Alliance's grant awards celebration. From left: Mark Stambaugh, Teck Gotreau, Kootenai County Sheriff's Office Deputy Adam Zitterkopf and Astra Vaughan.