Hitting the bullseye
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 6 years, 8 months AGO
Courtesy photo Guests donate food, play games, hang out and have a grand time at a recent Center Target Sports Customer Appreciation Day at the shooting range in Post Falls. Center Target Sports is hosting its seventh annual customer appreciation event and swap meet Saturday, Aug. 11 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Center Target Sports is inviting the community to its seventh annual customer appreciation day Saturday, Aug. 11 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Attendees will win prizes for donating food, toys and blood that will help the Post Falls Food Bank, Toys for Tots and the Inland Northwest Blood Center. The day will also feature free shooting, free food, games and other entertainment. (Courtesy photo)
By DEVIN WEEKS
Staff Writer
POST FALLS — The owners of Center Target Sports don't just show their customers how much they appreciate them.
They throw them an all-out neighborhood bash.
"We do it for the community," said Peggy Santos, who owns the Post Falls shooting range and training center with husband Ed.
"When my husband and I built Center Target Sports 14 years ago, we told Post Falls, the mayor and the chamber, that we would be an active part of the community," she said. "Its been really, really important for us to give back because they've supported us."
Next Saturday, Aug. 11, the seventh annual Customer Appreciation Event and Swap Meet will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Center Target Sports, 3295 E. Mullan Ave.
Donations of food, toys and blood will be collected for the Post Falls Food Bank, Toys for Tots and the Inland Northwest Blood Center.
Peggy said they're hoping to break records this year, striving for at least 100 pints of blood and thousands of pounds of food. Their record is 14,500 pounds of food, 98 units of blood and four totes of toys in one day.
"I believe we have the record for the most food collected in five hours," she said. "We try to beat it every year. The big thing is the blood bank and the food bank, they're both in such dire need in the summer."
For every pound of food or toy brought in, attendees will receive a ticket for prize drawings. For every 100 pounds of food or 100 toys, donors will receive a golden ticket for a chance to win an Ironman safe with a lifetime membership to Center Target Sports.
Three bloodmobiles will be on site to collect blood. Donors can call ahead to reserve a spot at 208-773-2331.
"We've said from the beginning, not particularly in North Idaho, but the gun community sometimes gets a bad rap," Peggy said. "We're here to show that our gun community is so giving and generous, it's mind-boggling to us. We were afraid people in North Idaho would think they didn't need training. We have been totally embraced."
In addition to the safe, Center Target will give away five firearms and hundreds of smaller prizes.
The day's activities will include free shooting, free food, free drinks, free seminars and demonstrations, a dunk tank, kids games, bull whip demonstrations with Joe Strain and the Wild Wild Whips, a Post Falls K-9 demonstration, more than 40 swap meet booths and more.
"It's amazing to me how many of our customers are thanking me when I'm thanking them," Peggy said. "I hear 300 times a day 'thank you for what you're doing for our community,' and that's why we do it."
Info: www.centertargetsports.com