Raffle to benefit BGH nurses scholarship fund

Florence Nightengale set a new standard during the American Civil War with her dedicated and tireless service to the victims of that war. Her oil lamp burned constantly and gave hope to so many that it has become the prideful symbol of nursing professionals.

In that honored tradition, some of our Bonner General Hospital nurses decided last year that they wanted to do something extra and to encourage young people to pursue careers in nursing. So they set up a scholarship fund for nursing students.

In only six weeks, they raised enough to give scholarships in 2004 to two Sandpoint High students, two to Priest River students and one to a Lake Pend Oreille student, all of whom were planning careers in nursing.

This year, after awarding more than $2,500 in scholarships to a total of seven students at Sandpoint, Clark Fork, Pend Oreille and Priest River high schools, they are fired up to do even more next spring for deserving future nurses.

They have put together a fabulous package to be raffled off on Sept. 16. It includes two tickets to The Lion King at the Spokane Opera House on Nov. 5, a night in a deluxe room at the legendary Davenport Hotel, and a $50 gift certificate at the Steam Plant Grill in Spokane near the Davenport.

Since The Lion King has sold out, so this is a great opportunity to maybe see the world-class production while helping future nurses with their education.

Drawing tickets are $10 for one or $20 for three and are available at the hospital switchboard in the BGH lobby. Funds are administered through the hospital foundation and are tax deductable. Bonner General employees can contribute through payroll deductions, but the raffle is open to anyone wishing to support the nurses' scholarship committee in their effort.

"We want to get nurses out into the community to which we owe so much. People need to know that nurses care, and not just when they are sick," said Sharon Bistodeau, one of the nurses involved in developing the scholarships.

"This started as a totally grassroots idea among several nurses and we would love to be able to help more and more people enter our profession each year."

Scholarship applicants must be high school seniors with a 2.5 GPA who have been accepted into a college or university with a nursing program.

The funds are sent directly to the college to be used as needed for the student's books, tuition or other school-related expenses.

"It helped so much. It is amazing how the community comes together with scholarships," said Jamie Hendricks, who was a 2004 scholarship recipient of the nursing scholarship. "Every penny matters."

Hendricks will soon begin her sophomore year at Carroll College in Helena, Mont., and while she still has to have student loans, she is grateful to the BGH nurses for their assistance. She is working this summer at Dr. Bruce Honsinger's Sandpoint Women's Health office, which according to Jamie, taught her a great deal about actual medicine. It also is the perfect opportunity to augment her scholastic experience while helping to pay her expenses, she said.

"Our goal is to raise enough money to award scholarships each year and allow nursing students to renew them as they continue their educations," said Robbie Baily, another of the nurses behind the scholarship program.

"We are too limited now to do that, but we would like to be able to help them all the way through school."

The scholarship committee wants to thank the Davenport Hotel for donating a room for the raffle and also The Festival at Sandpoint for their generous donation of a 2005 season pass which the association then matched with another pass and raffled to raise scholarship funds this year. The Festival has committed to do the same in 2006.

Local high school seniors interested in applying for a 2006 nursing scholarship can get information from their school counselors or contact Sharon Bistodeau at 263-1441, extention 1169.

Our nurses are certainly doing their part to ensure that Florence's lamp will continue burning brightly by helping to develop a new generation of dedicated and educated nurses to carry the flame.