Give, and you won't receive candy or chips

COEUR d'ALENE — That was easy.

With a quick scan of her phone, Emily Aizawa donated $10 to Children's Village via a new Giving Station at the Kroc Center.

Since she's the development manager for Children's Village, it was an excellent choice.

"It's a fun way to give to all the incredible nonprofits we have here in town. We're really grateful for the support to the community foundation," Aizawa said following a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The Idaho Community Foundation on Friday unveiled the innovative way for people to support nonprofits. The vending machine doesn’t dispense chips or candy but lets people donate to one of 24 local nonprofits and programs. Simply swipe or tap a debit or credit card and press a button. You’ll receive a card about the nonprofit you selected, and they’ll receive your donation.

Peter Faucher, ICF philanthropic adviser, said one of the hardest things about the Giving Station was limiting the number of organizations in the machine.

"There are so many nonprofits that are doing great work," he said. 

Steve Burns, ICF president and CEO, said the purpose of the Giving Station is to make charitable giving easy. Donation options range from $10 to $25.

"Newcomers to Idaho may not know how many terrific nonprofits operate in Kootenai County and North Idaho," he said. "This is a great way to showcase some of them."

The Giving Station features Kootenai County nonprofits that serve Idahoans in many ways, including health care, recreation, the arts, social services and finding homes for pets.

The local nonprofits are Boys and Girls Club of Kootenai County; CDAIDE; Children’s Village; Coeur d’Alene Rotary Foundation; Coeur d'Alene Symphony; Coeur Group; Companions Animal Shelter; EXCEL Foundation; Habitat for Humanity North Idaho; Heritage Health; Hospice of North Idaho; Kootenai Health Foundation; Love, INC.; Museum of North Idaho; NAMI Coeur d'Alene; North Idaho Centennial Trail; Safe Passage; St. Vincent de Paul North Idaho; The Avenue Marketplace (Post Falls Foodbank); The Greater Coeur d’Alene Community Foundation; The Salvation Army Kroc Center, 3rd Grade Swim, Clothe a Child and Mental Health Services; and United Way of North Idaho

This year is ICF's 35th anniversary. To date, it has awarded more than $177 million in grants across all of Idaho’s 44 counties.

“We want to make philanthropy fun and accessible. The Idaho Community Foundation’s Giving Station will introduce more people to the joy of giving back to their community and learning more about some of the amazing organizations working hard to make North Idaho such a wonderful place to live,” Burns said.

It's also a great chance to teach children about the importance of giving, organizers said.

"Bring your kids and grandkids," said Heidi Rogers. "This is a great way to show them."

    A crowd gathers for the ribbon-cutting of the new Giving Station to benefit nonprofits at the Kroc Center on Friday.