Get ready for the season of giving. Not only are there needy folks right here in our valley, but there're only six weeks left to donate in order to claim the deduction on your tax statements. However, most people aren't quite that heartless, with just an eye on their bottom line.
Indeed, valley residents are readying for the holidays by donating. After all, charity begins at home,
But there are more ways to give than writing a big check. Less drastic ways include interactive events that can make the donor feel just as good as the receiver.
For instance, beginning with Thanksgiving, turkey dinners are being donated, filled and delivered by the Silver Creek Alternative School, which is collecting food at their campus in Hailey.
A 5K Turkey Trot is planned for Thanksgiving morning at 10 a.m. in Foxmoor Park in Hailey. The proceeds will benefit the Souper Supper Community Diners at St. Charles Catholic Church.
For the December holidays, toys were collected during the annual Toy Run held earlier this fall. Those will be added to the Community Holiday Baskets. The Community Baskets program has begun taking applications from needy families to receive one of the food and gift filled baskets.
Coats for Kids collection boxes are at both Hemingway and Hailey Elementary Schools and overseen by Girl Scout Troop 772.
Also, The Papoose Club Annual Christmas Bazaar is taking place at Hemingway Elementary School on Dec. 4 and 5. The Papoose Club, in turn, donates money to other youth oriented organizations in the Valley.
Then there are the parties; lots and lots of parties where the silver lining is the fundraising done for good causes.
In the Wood River Valley, benefit season began two weeks ago in earnest with the annual Friends of Galena benefit, and the Wild Game Dinner to benefit the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation.
Events to get in the spirit this weekend are the Sun Valley Exposed Calendar Giving Party at the Sun Valley Ketchum Ski and Heritage Museum for the Historical Society tonight and the Firefighter's Ball Saturday night to benefit the Ketchum and Sun Valley Fire Departments.
The Wood River Hunger Coalition is hosting a fundraising event Saturday, Dec. 11 at the Anne Reed Gallery in Ketchum. "The Bread of Life," a book written by Hunger Coalition director Tom Iselin, is for sale in the valley and at signings over the course of the month of December. The sale of these gift worthy books, which include recipes and anecdotes, go to support the Hunger Coalition.
The Festival of Trees begins Thursday, Dec. 9 at the nexStage Theatre with the gala ball on Thursday, Dec. 9, where the trees will be auctioned off. A Teddy Bear Tea is Saturday, Dec. 11. A Winter Wonderland & Gingerbread Housemaking is also that day at KidShop next to the Hemingway Elementary School in Ketchum. The whole weekend of events benefits the Blaine County Senior Connection.
But what of the charities seeking for the gift that keeps giving? During the period post 9/11 many endowments stagnated, Mike Vinyon, of the Boise Wells Fargo Private Client Services Group, explained at a recent seminar on non-profit organizations and fundraising in Sun Valley.
"The war is not responsible for a decline in giving but a shift," Vinyon said.
Fortunately, monetary donations to charitable organizations are inching back up to acceptable levels, albeit in different ways. An amazing $240.7 billion was donated in 2003, and 74.5 percent of it was given by individuals.
The Wells Fargo seminar sought to suggest imaginative ways for valley nonprofit organizations to work on endowment building. This year the numbers are coming in a tad higher, especially for the 400 biggest charities. But that doesn't necessarily mean money is donated outright these days. Instead, donors want to be involved in what happens with their money. Among these ideas is for a donor to set up a managed account, with 10 percent of the account going to a charity annually.
A recent article in the New York Times noted, "More than ever before, donors are tying strings to their gifts and pulling them hard to ensure that their dollars do exactly what they want them to do.
"The country has a new generation of philanthropic lions, and, like their predecessors, these donors seek to invest not just their money but their ideas into the causes that are their passion."
Where is all this money going? According to Wells Fargo, 35 percent is going to religious organizations, 31 percent is going to educational institutions, 20 percent is going to health concerns and approximately 14 percent of the total given is being pledged to foundations.
So, what's this all mean to the Advocates for Survivors of Domestic Violence which counsels and shelters abused women; to the Wood River Hospice which offers free care, counseling and support to the dying and their families; to ski education, care of our historical sights, to organizations which protect our land, like the Wood River Land Trust, the Snake River Alliance and Idaho Conservation League?
"It's very important to have an endowment and build on that," Vinyon said. "It will help you."
The reasons people give, according to the representatives from Wells Fargo, are: "the ultimate use of the gift by the charity, a relationship with the charitable organization, peer pressure, and a desire to reduce taxes."
Whatever reasons people have to give, their generosity and participation remain an integral way people connect to others, and how this community in particular takes care of its own.
February calendar models Lindy Stark, left, and Melody Matson surround Santa, who's holding the Sun Valley Exposed calendar that will be available at a fundraising party tonight at the Sun Valley Ketchum Ski and Heritage Museum. Photo by Willy Cook
