On Target Back-to-school shopping already?
MAUREEN DOLAN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 15 years AGO
<p>JEROME A. POLLOS/Press Lindsey Baldwin helps Bethany Lemmon, 11, shop for school supplies Tuesday at Target in Coeur d'Alene during the "Target School Spree" in conjunction with the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Community Center. The joint effort allowed 25 local students to spend $80 at Target for school supplies.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - Notebook paper? Check. Erasers? Check. Markers? Check.
Cookie-monster T-Shirt? Maybe.
And so it went for 25 Kootenai County youngsters who, with the help of Salvation Army Kroc Center volunteer chaperones, browsed the aisles and racks Tuesday at the Target store in Coeur d'Alene. The kids - armed with lists of their back-to-school needs and $80 gift cards given to them by Target - selected clothing, school supplies and other items needed for the upcoming academic year.
"I'm on a slim budget," said Taran Tomlinson, of Post Falls, as her daughter, Kyla, who is headed for third grade, shopped nearby. "Right now, she's growing out of pretty much everything."
The back-to-school shopping spree is part of a nationwide outreach program sponsored by Target and the Salvation Army. The retailer donated the gift cards, and the Salvation Army selected children to award them to.
Cathy Fischer, a Target employee and volunteer captain for the Coeur d'Alene store, said the company focuses much of its giving on education.
"It gives me the warm fuzzies," Fischer said, smiling as the brigade of red Target shopping carts headed out into the aisles. "I like giving back to the community, especially for kids."
Sarah Pryor headed for the shoe department with a shopping chaperone. The 10-year-old didn't have any particular back-to-school items she was looking forward to purchasing.
"I just love the Salvation Army. They're nice," Sarah said. "They make it better."
Because the Kroc Center in Coeur d'Alene has hundreds of children who would have likely qualified for the shopping spree based on income eligibility, the organization looked to its residential camp scholarship program to narrow the scope.
Each summer, with the help of local school counselors and funds raised through its Kettle program, the Salvation Army selects 60 disadvantaged youth to attend Camp Gifford, located on Deer Lake in Stevens County, Wash. For a $20 co-pay, the children attend a week of camp valued at $300.
"We selected the kids here today through a random drawing of the campers," said Bill Davenport, Salvation Army Kroc Center Assistant Director of Ministry.
Maj. John Chamness, director of the Coeur d'Alene Kroc Center, said many of the young shoppers probably rely on handed down clothing.
"A lot of these kids may have never had a new pair of shoes or clothes to go back to school with,"Chamness said. "This really does something for their psyche."
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