Young philanthropist earns scholarship

SANDPOINT — Every now and then, one good deed goes a long way.

Twelve-year-old Garrett Connolly wasn’t expecting any reward when he decided to renovate the ruinous Northside Elementary baseball diamond last season. Nevertheless, the project has earned him some serious commendation — and a little future educational financing — from Kohl’s department store.

Business associates selected Garrett as one of their 200 young people in the Spokane area to earn a $1,000 Kohl’s Cares scholarship for his community spirit in initiating the baseball diamond restoration project. More than 35,000 individuals across the nation applied for the program. However, scholarship supervisors will narrow that number down to 2,200 beneficiaries spread across several regions throughout the country.

Garrett’s selection for the award also qualifies him for a chance at a $10,000 national scholarship, ten of which will be distributed to regional winners.

“I wasn’t expecting (any kind of a reward),” Garrett said. “It feels really good.”

The Connollys will squirrel away the scholarship award until Garrett is ready to embark into his college career. It’s still a bit to early to say where he’ll go or precisely what he’ll study, but he has a few ideas in mind already.

“I probably want to be a scientist,” he said.

However, Garrett might not have been considered for the award if not for some help from his family and educators. His great-uncle Dick Parsons first learned of the Kohl’s Cares opportunity and passed it on to Garrett’s grandpa Jim Parsons Jr. The idea ended up with Garrett’s father, Bill Connolly, who filled out the necessary application papers. Northside Principal Perky Hagadone also wrote a letter to the organization detailing Garrett’s worthiness for consideration.

Everyone involved was happy to return the favor Garrett initiated last year by bringing the school’s baseball diamond back into playable condition. As a fan of baseball, he hated to see the field wither into a dangerous and unusable condition. He secured the help of his friends and family to level the ground, fill in the holes, realign the bases and replant the grass.

“It was definitely a fun project to work on with him,” Bill Connolly said.

All the necessary materials for the project also required plenty of money, and Garrett committed himself to that task as well. He ended up securing financial contributions from 20 businesses — enough to supply the tools and landscaping materials he needed.

Altogether, Garrett spent a solid chunk of his summer vacation working on the baseball diamond, working a typical four days a week for a season total of 400 hours. As much as his own time and initiative helped launch the project, however, it was also a good example of the great things that can happen when people work together.

“It was definitely a community effort,” Connolly said. “I think one of the lessons Garrett learned was how to count on other people for help.”