When a loved one dies, grief comes in waves.

Sorrow is often overwhelming, leaving the mourner drowning in despair. Simply keeping one’s head above water long enough to draw a breath is a battle.

Tamarack Grief Resource Center exists to help people stay afloat. Local artists are providing the paddles to help make that possible.

The nonprofit’s annual A Camp To Remember benefit dinner takes place Jan. 31 at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake. In addition to dinner, the event includes an auction of canoe paddles decorated by several local artists.

This is the fourth year Tamarack Grief Resource Center has held a paddle auction, said Jim Parker, the fundraiser coordinator.

“We tried to think of something different from all the other fundraisers and the other wonderful opportunities people have in the valley to support nonprofits,” Parker said. “We do camps on Flathead Lake, and the outdoors is such an important part of the grief therapy work we do, so why not have something related to all those things?”

Local artists embraced the idea of decorating canoe paddles, he said, and the community has embraced the opportunity to own unique works of art by their favorite artists.

“It’s a one-of-a-kind piece of work from an artist whom they often have other pieces from,” Parker said.

He added that the paddle auction is “something that really spoke to the artists. They’re able to have fun with the project.”

Local artists Gini Ogle, Jeffrey Funk, John Rawlings, Susan Guthrie, Dave Smith, Matt Springer, Mark King and Dawn Duane, and visiting artist and scholar Karl Rangiwewehi Leonard have created paddles for the auction.

Some are typical paddles dressed up with intricate patterns and painted pictures. Springer took a three-dimensional approach to the project rather than painting it. King built a paddle of ash, myrtle and mahogany.

All are unique and intended to assist the nonprofit.

“Much thanks to [Tamarack Grief Resource Center] for their efforts to make the world a better place,” King says in his artist statement. “I had a lot of fun building this piece.”

The money raised during the dinner and auction goes to support Tamarack Grief Resource Center’s programs in the Flathead Valley and Missoula, Parker said.

Locally, the center offers teen retreats, grief consultations and youth camps, including the annual A Camp to Remember grief camp on Flathead Lake. The camp combines traditional summer camp activities with opportunities to remember and honor deceased loved ones.

“What happens at the Camp to Remember is astounding,” Springer says in his artist statement. Springer has volunteered at three Tamarack camps on Flathead Lake.

“It’s transformational for the kiddos in profound ways that both crush the heart and blow it back up — for everyone involved. It’s magic.”

Tamarack also works closely with school counselors to help grieving youths in school, Parker said.

“That’s one of the hardest places for kids to re-enter the world after a loss,” he said.

Parker didn’t have numbers as to how many people take advantage of Tamarack programs annually, but he said the programs in the Flathead Valley grow every year.

“As more families and parents and guardians find out about programs that aren’t really offered anywhere else locally or regionally, they want their kids and even themselves to get involved,” he said. “We have had growth of anywhere from 10 to 40 percent in participation or requests for programs.”

The center has also seen growth in volunteers such as Parker. After his father died in the late 1990s, Parker became a hospice volunteer. He signed up to help with Tamarack Grief Resource Center’s youth camps soon after. He has been involved with those camps for 15 years, served on Tamarack’s board and worked as the nonprofit’s associate director.

“It’s just something that I recognized the importance of, particularly in the children that we get to work with,” he said. “It’s a delight, and it’s a real honor to be part of these camps and these programs.”

Some of the children who have gone through the camps come back as volunteers, Parker said. “Who better to be involved with the kiddos than those kids?”

For more information about Tamarack Grief Resource Center, visit www.tamarackgriefresourcecenter.org.

Kristi Albertson, editor of This Week in the Flathead, may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.