Annual drive to support Idaho nonprofits begins today
Ace Cardboard recycling crew through Panhandle Special Needs pose with employees from Spuds Waterfront Grill after picking up materials to recycle. Pictured: Paul Freeman (Spuds employee), Iniko Garcia (Spuds employee), Steven T., Seth N., Mike W., Andy K. (PSNI employee), Justin B. (PSNI employee), kneeling: Travis N.
Harriet and Tom Dillon spend their Fridays maintaining one of 17 Meals on Wheels routes keeping seniors fed in Kootenai County.
“We check on ‘em, talk to ‘em, get to know them a little bit. Make sure they get fed,” Tom said.
The impact goes beyond just the social interactions. For some seniors, the Dillons are all they have.
“A lot of these people don’t eat unless we deliver the meals to them,” Tom said.
Lake City Center is one of about 110 North Idaho nonprofits participating in Idaho Gives, which starts today and continued through May 7.
Idaho Gives is a program of the Idaho Community Foundation that is designed to bring the state together, raising money and awareness for Idaho nonprofits
Lake City Center Executive Director Nancy Phillips said Meals on Wheels and other senior programming revolves around volunteers.
“It takes a lot of bodies,” Phillips said.
The in-person congregate meals rack up about 200-220 volunteer hours each month and Meals on Wheels volunteer hours come to about 190-200 a month.
Lake City Center's Meals on Wheels coordinates distribution of about 5,000 meals a month for seniors in Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls, Hayden, Huetter, Hauser and Dalton Gardens on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
“We provide meals, the social connection and the supportive services so that they can remain independent as long as possible while engaging with others in the community,” Phillips said.
Community partners like the 3rd Avenue Marketplace and area churches help Lake City Center fill funding gaps.
“It's a lot of outside help that’s needed. Thankfully, we have a community that likes to give,” Phillips said.
Residents find a rural resource in Panhandle Special Needs
Panhandle Special Needs supports clients with disability services in Bonner and Boundary counties and part of Kootenai County.
“It's a lot of territory and we go as far as Athol,” Executive Director Trinity Nicholson said.
PSN serves about 200 people a year teaching life skills, providing adult day health and offering different types of employment and training.
“Folks also depend on us for essential services and to go grocery shopping, to cook their meals. We can’t just not show up,” Nicholson said. “We just find a way, we have to find our way.”
About 40 names fill an agency waitlist.
““It's big part of why we participate in Idaho Gives, we’re trying to build a new building," Nicholson said.
PSN's Sandpoint building lease has about seven years left on its contract.
Plants from the Greenhouse through Panhandle Special Needs open for sale beginning May 5 and those wanting to support the agency can also buy hanging baskets during the May 7 restaurant takeover of Smokesmith Bar-B-Que.
Info: www.idahogives.org/