Carol Draine is all heart.

The Fred Meyer cashier was recognized for that overwhelming heart earlier this month when she received the Kroger Community Service Award.

She was chosen to receive the honor, which goes to just one selfless individual a year, from among 33,000 Fred Meyer employees in four states. This prestigious award identifies a deep spirit of volunteerism and community good will.

"I was so in shock," said Draine, 64, of Post Falls. "I do this because it's my heart. It's what I feel in my heart I should be doing, never ever expecting a thank you or any appreciation at all, because that's just who I am."

She spends countless hours collecting donation items and preparing meals for the hungry, which she contributes through Fresh Start, Inc. Each sack lunch she makes provides a balanced meal that may be the only thing the receiver eats that day.

"We think of camping in the summertime when the nights are a little bit cool, but their camping is all year 'round," Draine said, tears welling in her blue eyes.

Draine does it all from her home (except for the hot breakfast and spaghetti meals she prepared on location at Fresh Start), with some help from her husband, Floyd, and their grandkids. She purchases the food and other items almost completely with her own money.

"It doesn't bother me that it's on us," she said. "If I get help, it's great. If I don't, it's still great."

The first experience that revealed to her the satisfaction of helping others came when she was living in Nevada. She saw an older lady with a shopping cart full of belongings. She asked her if she could get her something to eat, and from where.

"I brought it back and she acted like it was Christmas," Draine said. "From that day on, my heart changed."

She began making meals for a "tent city" homeless community that was located along a river, also in Nevada. With food, folding tables and the drive to feed the hungry, Draine won their respect.

"They wouldn't even start eating until I arrived," she said. "They would say, 'We're going to wait 'til our lady comes, and then we'll all eat together.'"

Draine has been making efforts to help the homeless and those in need for 10 years. She immediately got involved in helping the homeless in the Coeur d'Alene area when she moved to Post Falls three years ago. She said she is working on getting donations from different stores, but it is more difficult here than it was in Nevada because "everything goes through the corporate." She has had luck with some items such as milk and soda drinks, but she is always looking for staple items, warm clothing and blankets to sustain the homeless through the winter months.

"They have feelings and lives, too," she said. "You need to respect them, and sometimes your respect can show them a way out of where they're at."

Draine's honors included a trophy, a plaque, lunch at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn with her family and Fred Meyer corporate representatives, and $500. She donated the money to Relay for Life because she is also a cancer survivor.

"Carol's heart has compassion for those in need and when she sees a need, she acts on it. She is a selfless person who works tirelessly to make sure that the less fortunate are being taken care of," said Coeur d'Alene Fred Meyer store director Bob Hobart, in a press release.

Draine welcomes donations of items such as working fans to donate to elderly people who cannot afford air conditioning, non-perishable food items such as cereal, peanut butter and canned food with pop-top lids and warm clothing and blankets. Donations may be brought to her Post Falls home, 312 E. 22nd Ave. Want to help the cause? Call Draine at (775) 397-2491.

Take a journey to the past

The Coeur d'Alene Public Library has The Coeur d'Alene Press on microfiche from February 1892 to Nov. 30, 2009. It has bound volumes from April 1945 to January 2006. A searchable electronic database of past editions on NewsBank is available from Sept. 30, 2003, to present.

North Idaho College Molstead Library has The Coeur d'Alene Press on microfilm from 1882 to November 2010, and will be adding more recent editions to the record. There are some gaps in the record, but the school's library has about 99 percent of the editions.