More than $300,000 worth of equipment and other needs has been donated to Benewah Community Hospital and the St. Maries Family Medicine Clinic through BetterCARE.
Carol Humphrey said the success of the organization is due to the support received from the community at its annual fundraisers.
The BetterCARE Easter Bake Sale is from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 3 at the Eagles Lodge parking lot. The golden egg raffle returns and individuals have a chance to win Easter baskets through the Easter egg raffle. Those who have helped with the bake sale include Eula Needham, Carol Humphrey, Patti Wheeler, Dee Coulter, Justine Juarez and St. Maries High School students Kendall Brusseau and Blake McGregor, members of the Health Occupation Students of America club that donated chocolate bunnies for the Easter baskets.
The community has the chance to support BetterCARE this Friday, April 3, at the annual Easter Bake Sale, which is from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Eagles Lodge parking lot.
Those who attend will have the chance to buy tasty treats, raffle tickets for the golden egg that is filled with more than $500 worth of prizes and chances to win an Easter basket. Scrubby, the BetterCARE bear, will also attend. A specific project has not been targeted for the money raised at the bake sale.
Past projects of the organization include purchasing four wheelchairs for the clinic, two infant monitors for the hospital, scholarships, portable ultrasound, children’s activity items for waiting areas, audio monitors for newborns, double-headed microscope, new signs for entrances, baby warmers, and echocardiogram machine and more.
“Each year, BetterCARE requests wish lists from departments. They are reviewed and discussed at board meetings and we decide on which project to target,” Ms. Humphrey said.
Donations of baked goods for the bake sale can be donated by dropping them off at the Eagles Lodge or call 582-0782 to have an item picked up.
Pancakes, sausage and eggs will be served at the annual Firemen’s Pancake Breakfast from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, March 29, at the St. Maries Fire Station.
Coffee, milk and juice will also be available. The cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children 5 to 12 and children 4 and younger eat free. Jim Sheppard, who is working to organize the breakfast, said the money will benefit the St. Maries Firemen’s Benevolence Fund.
Mark McCalman, Tim Kraack, Phil Diffenbaugh and Jim Sheppard invite everyone to the annual Firemen’s Pancake Breakfast, which is from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the St. Maries Fire Station Sunday, March 29. The breakfast feeds more than 250 people each year and raises money for the St. Maries Firemen’s Benevolence Fund.
“And basically what that’s for is helping people after they have been involved in a fire,” Mr. Sheppard said. “It gives us the ability to help them out. After a fire, they need a place to stay so we use this fund to put them up in a hotel. We might also give them some money to buy clothes in the event that what they had was lost.”
Mr. Sheppard said the fund is mostly supported by what money is raised at the breakfast.
“What we are able to do is solely supported by the public,” he said. “The fund allows us to respond immediately. We don’t have to go out looking for donations.”
This is the third year Mr. Sheppard has helped organize the breakfast. However, the fire station has been serving up pancakes and sausage for more than 15 years.
“It really is a successful fundraiser,” he said. “We plan to have enough food to serve 360 people and we almost always run out of everything.”
The breakfast, he added, brings in approximately $1,200 each year, sometimes more.
“I really want to thank the community because this breakfast really is a community effort,” Mr. Sheppard said. “Everybody helps make this possible. The Kiwanis lets us use their grill at no charge and the Eagles allow us to use their tables and chairs. Various businesses advertise the event for us in their stores and reader boards. Several churches also announce it in their bulletin for us.”
Fifteen students from St. Maries High School traveled to the Business Professionals of America state conference in Boise March 12 through March 14.
Six students qualified in their events to compete at the national conference, which is May 6 to May 9 in Anaheim, Calif.
Six St. Maries students qualified for nationals at the state Business Professionals of America competition. There are Kaylene Peet, Arie Sands, Liz Bloomsburg, Paytyn Wemhoff, Kari Ghramm and Alexis Cordell.
Alexis Cordell and Kari Ghramm qualified with a second place in presentation management. Kaylene Peet finished second in basic office systems to qualify. Paytyn Wemhoff was third in administrative support research and will compete at nationals.
Also competing at nationals will be Arie Sands, who had a fifth place finish in medical office procedures, and Liz Bloomsburg, who was third in computer modeling.
Students who placed in the top 10 at state were: Erin Kennelly, Kyle Jarvi, Warren Renfrew and Bethany Scott in economic research team; Alexis Cordell and Kendall Brusseau in advanced word processing; and Paytyn Wemhoff in legal office procedures.
There were no students who qualified for nationals from Kootenai High School. Bill Brebner, teacher at Lakeside, said he did not have results as of press time.
Twenty local businesses and groups have signed on as major sponsors for the second annual Benewah County Ray of Hope Breakfast.
The free breakfast, which is sponsored by Potlatch Corporation, is Friday at 7 a.m. at the St. Maries Eagles Lodge.
Morris & Wolff Law Offices and the Lloyd G. McCarter Legion Post joined the group of major sponsors this week.
“We have had a tremendous response from the business community and local groups,” Dan Hammes, who is helping organize the event, said. “Once again this community has stepped forward to help a great cause.”
All proceeds from the breakfast will be used to support CASA in Benewah County. CASA volunteers represent youngsters whose parents are involved in the court system. The breakfast will include a short program about CASA and the work their volunteers do in the community.
“We can’t say enough about Steve Henson and Potlatch. They stepped forward last year and sponsored the breakfast and agreed to do so again this year. That means everything we raise will go directly to our program,” Mr. Hammes said.
Other major sponsors for the breakfast are Hughes Ace Hardware, Sexton Road Contractors, Potlatch Credit Union, Hodge Funeral Home, Archie’s IGA, St. Joe Valley Credit Union, AmericanWest Bank, Ken’s Custom BoDY & Paint, the Gazette Record, Jack Buell Trucking, Paul Bunyan Days Commiteee, the Eagles Lodge, the Eagles Auxiliary, The Paperhouse, St. Maries Kiwanis Club, and Avista. Eimers’ Insurance is a participating sponsor.
“CASA has a great story to tell so we encourage as many people as possible to attend the breakfast,” Mr. Hammes said. “We will start serving before 7 a.m. so we can accommodate those who have to get to work following the program.”
For more information or to donate to CASA call the Gazette Record at 245-4538.
A $10,000 donation was made last week by Potlatch to the city of St. Maries for the community amphitheatre project.
Steve Henson, manager of the St. Maries Complex, presented Mayor Harry Grubham with the check Feb. 25.
“The company is very happy to support this project,” Mr. Henson said. “We’re celebrating 50 years in the community this year and we are very happy to help with community projects like this one.”
Steven Henson, manager of Potlatch-St. Maries Complex, presented St. Maries Mayor Harry Grubham with a check for $10,000. The money will be put toward the amphitheatre project in city park.
“The city is very appreciative of the donation,” Mayor Grubham said. “This is a company that is very involved with its community and participates in community-oriented projects.”
Potlatch is the second local timber company to make a donation to the project. Stimson Lumber donated $2,500.
“We’re very appreciative of the two private timber companies to step up and make donations toward this project,” Chris Renaldo said.
So far, the city has $57,304.02 for the project in the bank. That does not include a $20,000 grant it received from the Inland Community Foundation. Mr. Renaldo said a few other organizations that have had fundraisers to support the project are also expected to make donations.
“We are in the process of getting a final estimate of what it is going to cost to build the amphitheatre,” Mr. Renaldo said. “We still plan to put the project out to bid this spring. Our goal is to have the amphitheatre built this summer and finished in time to be used during the Paul Bunyan Days celebration.”
Anyone who wants to make a donation to the project can do at city hall.
