Kinderhaven event funds year-round operations

    SANDPOINT – Kinderhaven holds only one fundraiser each year and everything rides on its success.  This year, the Kinderhaven Festival of Trees will take place on Dec. 5 at the Sandpoint Business & Events Center, with nothing less than the organization’s annual operating budget on the line.

    Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, the festival raised a little more than $6,000 when it was launched in 1999.  In 2008, the event drummed up a total of $147,000 as decorated trees and gift baskets were auctioned off to support the group’s mission of “supporting children in crisis, giving them back their right to thrive by providing a safe, secure home.”

    Because so many children sheltered by Kinderhaven have been victims of physical or sexual abuse, support also includes mending broken hearts and rebuilding a foundation for trust.

    “What we are committed to doing at Kinderhaven is going beyond providing the basics of shelter, food, clothing and safety to begin helping heal their wounds,” said Phyllis Horvath, executive director.  “We focus on building healthy relationships with the children so they learn that adults can be trusted and that they themselves are worthwhile.  Too often, children blame themselves for the abuse.”

    Kinderhaven’s work is serious business, but the annual gala that supports it has a more playful atmosphere.

    “The energy at the Festival of Trees is incredible,” said Kinderhaven past-president and board member Barbara Perusse.  “When the donators show up and drop off their items and decorators begin to put their magic into the trees – for me, it is the most heartwarming event I have ever witnessed.”

    According to Perusse, friendly competition among attendees drives bidding up to levels where the revelers themselves become the evening’s entertainment.

    “From loud to silent auction items, friends, businesses and families are so generous,” she said.  “One year we had a scholarship wreath and people donated to its cause – that raised about $18,000.  We were also given a trip on a private jet to Mexico that went for $23,000.”

    Although donated items manage to fetch the highest per-unit prices, it is the decorated “theme” trees that give the festival its name, its fame and, collectively, its greatest fundraising clout.  One group that has become a veteran of the event is the Coldwater Creek photo studio, which has created trees for the auction since 2003.

    “Our motivation to participate started years ago when we heard that Kinderhaven needed help cleaning up its property and landscaping,” said Kari Saccomanno, who oversees photo studio operations.  “The studio came in to help and somewhere between taking the 30 dump loads to Colburn, the digging of plant beds, planting of flowers, cutting down tree limbs and such, we decided to do a tree for the Festival of Trees.  The tree tradition has continued since.”  

    Known for Christmas tree themes that Saccomanno described as “not normal,” the group has helped raise between $2,000-$8,000 each year, she estimated.

    At Coldwater Creek, both the Visual Merchandising and Retail teams also take part in an amicable rivalry surrounding the tree that gets the highest bid.

    “We were very proud last year, because we beat everyone,” said Mary Beth Mastay, a member of the company’s retail group who added that her team’s 2008 entry brought in $2,500 and prior-year trees have raised as much as $5,000.  “We’re going to have fun with this year’s tree, because it has a little bit different look to it.”

    Inspired by a dose of good-hearted madness, the retail team will roll out an “Adventures in Wonderland” theme for Saturday’s auction.

    Two couples from Litehouse, Inc., meanwhile, plan to rock the house with their “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” theme – a black-and-silver tree based on the popularity of the game Rock Band.  The package, compiled by Litehouse controller Charity Hegel, CFO Kelly Prior and both of their spouses, will include an X-Box 360, complete set of game instruments, smoke and light machine – everything but the TV.

    “We’ve been doing the trees intermittently over the years since the inception of the program,” Hegel said.   “We come up with a list of potential ideas and then have a brainstorming meeting where we talk through each idea until we feel we’ve landed on the best and most unique concept.”

    Four couples who work out together – Mark and Kim Powers, Mike and Beth Craven, Don and Carol Sheridan and Jim and Lynn Watts – put their heads together to come up with what they call the “Idaho Ski Tree.”  The package includes a 5-day Sun Valley getaway in a 2-bedroom, 2-bath condo at Elkhorn and other ski-related gift certificates and ornaments.

    “One of the couples owns a Sun Valley condo and offered to donate it, so it became the Ski Tree,” Beth Craven said.  “I knit, so I started making little hats, mittens and sweaters and we created little signs that name every run at Schweitzer and Sun Valley.

    “We’ve been working on it, on and off, for at least six months,” she added.  “We didn’t want to wait until the last minute.”

    Tammy Davis at Temanos Counseling is part of a first-year tree team, though her office had its introduction to the event during Christmas 2008.

    “Last year was our first year and we did a basket,” she said.  “We had such great response – it went for $500 – that this year we decided to do a tree.”

    Since Temanos specializes in counseling for children and families, it seemed only natural to festoon the entry with gift certificates for dinners and movie passes for nights out as a family, Davis explained.

    As the Kinderhaven Festival of Trees prepares to celebrate its 10th year, Horvath reflected on how the community has kept the organization alive.

    “Throughout the years, we’ve had numerous supporters who have helped in big and small ways, but all-important ways,” the executive director said.  “Because we must be staffed 24-hours-a-day throughout the year, keeping our doors open is always a challenge.  Kinderhaven would not be here without the incredible support and loving generosity of this community.”

    Monthly expenses for the emergency shelter, founded in 1996, run between $17,000 and $22,000 a month, depending on the number of children and teens being helped at the time.  The shelter averages about eight children in residence, but is licensed to house up to 16.  When residency reaches higher levels, additional staff is required to be on-premises and costs for food and clothing also increase.

    Horvath pointed to Marsha Ogilvie as the driving force behind the creation of Kinderhaven, which is governed by a volunteer board of directors, led this year by board president Kim Diercks.  Perusse, who has served on the board for 10 years, said the Festival of Trees gets people in the holiday spirit, but it’s the children that Kinderhaven cares for that really show her what Christmas is all about.

    “Knowing the children that have come through our doors has been a gift to me,” she said.  “They have truly taught me the meaning of life and the meaning of Christmas.”

    The Kinderhaven Festival of Trees officially kicks off with a Family Night on Dec. 3, which is open to the public with tree viewing, hot chocolate and a visit from Santa Claus.  Tickets for the luncheon on Dec. 4 have sold out and, as of Friday, only a few tickets were left for the Dec. 5 gala, which limits attendance to 200 people. 

    For tickets and event times, contact Kinderhaven board member Jacinda Bokowy at (208) 610-2208 or by e-mail at:  HYPERLINK "mailto:jbokowy@mac.com" jbokowy@mac.com

    For more information about Kinderhaven, visit:  HYPERLINK "http://www.kinderhavensandpoint.com" www.kinderhavensandpoint.com