COEUR d'ALENE - If you spent a beautiful Sunday visiting local gardens during the Coeur d'Alene Garden Club's Garden Tour, you may know the annual tour serves good causes.

It's much more than an event to admire a botanical smorgasbord - the Garden Tour is also a fundraiser that supports local nonprofit organizations and North Idaho College's dual-enrollment scholarship fund.

This year, the tour raised $12,000. Those funds were distributed Wednesday morning on the steps of the Coeur d'Alene Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Bureau in downtown Coeur d'Alene.

"We feel that Coeur d'Alene is a very special place to live, as evidenced by the support given to all of our charitable entities who continue to thrive and support the less fortunate in our area," Garden Tour chair Bonnie Warwick said as she congratulated the recipients. "We know that you'll spend the money wisely and our community will continue to prosper."

Jill Marfice, who is a Make-A-Wish Foundation board member and Coeur d'Alene Garden Club member, said she was honored to receive funds that will make big differences in the lives of children. Make-A-Wish makes dreams come true for children who are suffering terminal illnesses.

"It's uplifting to live in a community where organizations like the Coeur d'Alene Garden Club give so much to those in need," Marfice said. "It will be even more inspiring to witness the power of a wish firsthand when one of our local children who is facing a life-threatening illness gets to have their wish come true."

Kim Normand, Shared Harvest Community Garden manager, said this was the seventh time Shared Harvest has been chosen by the Garden Club to be a recipient. She said Shared Harvest is constantly rebuilding and redoing as it uses recycled materials that need to be replaced more quickly than costly brand-new equipment.

"They continue to support us and help us. Without their money and our one fundraiser, we could not continue," she said. "We're growing and giving, but we're also growing community. That's huge for us. People are working together to make a better world."

Recipients of the Coeur d'Alene Garden Club's 2015 Garden Tour:

NIC's dual-enrollment scholarship fund; Shared Harvest Community Garden; Make-A-Wish Idaho; Second Chance Pet Rescue, Inc.; Hayden Meadows Elementary School's greenhouse project; North Idaho Violence Prevention Center; ElderHelp of North Idaho; Kootenai Environmental Alliance/Roots Garden; Lake City Center's Meals on Wheels program; The EXCEL Foundation; and Skyway Elementary School's garden project.

Info: www.cdagardenclub.com