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Chamber aims to help fire victims

by Kristin Carlson Contributing Writer
| November 14, 2018 12:00 AM

SANDPOINT — The devastation ripping through Paradise has the community all thinking. It could happen here.

It’s not just the tragedy of a few families losing their home. While these circumstances are awful, there is almost always a community to rally around these families and help them get back on their feet. What if your whole community was wiped out? Homes, grocery stores, pharmacies, community organizations … all gone.

In response to the devastation in Paradise, Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce officials are putting together a T-shirt drive to collect new T-shirts from the various non-profits and organizations in Sandpoint who have leftover shirts from races, fundraisers, and events. The chamber has hundreds of brand new, good quality T-shirts from years of Scenic Half Marathon races. We figure many organizations have the same.

To make use of those shirts, the chamber is collecting T-shirts and any other supplies the community would like to send to Paradise. They are working with the Salvation Army in Chico, Calif. — the closet unaffected distribution center — to distribute the items collected once they are received. They are also collecting donations to cover the cost of shipping. Any excess of funds will be sent to the Paradise Rotary Foundation.

“We are a non-profit organization, so we don’t have money to give; but we do have T-shirts. This community needs everything, so why not help in our own small way,” said Chamber President & CEO Kate McAlister.

The chamber has already received T-shirt donations from The Bulldog Bench, The Festival at Sandpoint, and Dave Scherbarth, as well as cash donations from community members for shipping.

Please help send our Sandpoint care package. If you would like to contribute T-shirts or funds for shipping, please call the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce at 208-263-2161 or drop off your donations at 1202 N Fifth Ave.

Chamber officials are planning to mail the care packages by Friday, Nov. 16.