SANDPOINT — Call it a perfect storm of philanthropy.

First, the winds of imagination blew as the local chapter of PEO (Philanthropic Education Organization) organized a fundraising shopping spree at Yoke’s in Ponderay. Then, with the clouds already seeded by the grocery store’s history of doing good in the community, the soft rains of kindness began to fall as area residents snatched up the $10 raffle tickets for a chance to win $50, $100 or $200 gift certificates or the grand prize “grab what you can in three minutes” shopping spree through the store.

The outpouring of good deeds broke like a thunderclap when, at the PEO luncheon earlier this month, the winner stood to announce that the prize would be donated to the Gardenia Center’s Rainbow Soup Kitchen for food supplies.

PEO member Jan Welle and her partner, Dick Stroda, had already concocted a plan to make that donation should they be the lucky winners of the grand prize. Prior to the luncheon, however, the best they could do was wait and keep their fingers crossed.

“When PEO decided to sponsor the grocery cart spree as a fundraiser, I came home to tell Dick about it,” Welle said. “Together we thought, ‘what a win-win situation!’”

A win on one side, because it was an easy decision to support the group to which she proudly belongs; a win on the other, because who wouldn’t want to be handed a few minutes of running free in the grocery store and filling up a grocery cart with food?

But the definition of winning — in the second half of the equation –evolved quickly in their minds.

“The more we thought about it all, we decided that we’d want to donate the winning spree to the Gardenia Center Rainbow Kitchen, for they provide a soup kitchen weekly for the public,” Welle explained.

The big day came and things went as they had planned — or hoped for, anyway.

“When Jan won the shopping spree she jumped up excitedly and announced that she was donating her winnings to the soup kitchen,” said Rainbow Soup Kitchen volunteer Carla Cook. “Everyone at the Gardenia Center was grateful and excited, of course, and we are planning ‘strategies’ for our three-minute race through Yoke’s to grab groceries.”

The soup kitchen first opened in 1991, and ran for seven years serving full meals similar to what one might find in a restaurant. The sheer amount of work it took to pull off that feat every week led to burnout among the small cadre of volunteers and the kitchen closed in 1998.

“Then in 2008, when the economy was so bad, we saw that there was a real need for us to open again,” Cook said. “This time, we decided to only offer hearty soups and homemade bread with butter. We thought if we kept it simple, we would be able to sustain the kitchen better over time.”

Starbucks stepped in to donate its day-old pastries to serve as desserts. A handful of dedicated people cook soup in their homes and bring it in every week, while a group of volunteers comes each week to set up tables, serve the food and clean up after the meal.

“The Gardenia Center supports the soup kitchen financially and several of the workers are members of the center, but our volunteers come from all areas of the community,” Cook said.

The kitchen serves about 85 bowls of soup each Wednesday afternoon, with additional servings delivered to patrons who can’t make it into town for the weekly meal. At the end of every lunch, take-home packages are provided using any food that is left.

Both Welle and Gardenia Center founder Marilyn Chambers are PEO members and Welle and Stroda have thrown their shoulders to the wheel for some time, based mainly on the good works done at the center.

“It’s their hearts — the people of the Gardenia Center and their caring for others — that is so impressive to us,” said Welle. “But, above all, it’s the spirit they share with others that will positively affect the community.

“Dick and I have been supporters of the Gardenia Center’s Rainbow Soup Kitchen for many years now,” she added. “We know all the sacrifices and efforts which are made in order to provide the soup meals for those in need and we appreciate those who generously give their time and resources to make it all happen.”

The spirit of generosity encompasses food for the body and nourishment for the soul, according to Cook, who noted that volunteers have become a close-knit team that looks out for fellow community members.

“The atmosphere is much like a family,” she said. “One volunteer who comes every week said she wanted her job to be sitting out at the tables and talking to people. One Wednesday, she gathered all the workers together and told us that there was a 90-year-old woman out there who was being evicted from her house and didn’t have anywhere to go.

“We guided this woman to the Sandpoint Community Resource Center and other agencies that might help with her problem,” Cook continued. “Several of our workers followed up with this woman until her crisis was resolved. We can’t fix every problem, or make everyone’s life easy, but simple things like listening and kindness and caring and supporting people is as important as feeding them.”

PEO is a philanthropic organization where women celebrate the advancement of women and help to educate them through scholarships, grants, awards and loans. In 2017 — the most recent year for which figures are available — the group raised nearly $2 million to promote such opportunities.

Locally, the PEO chapter gives scholarships to deserving graduating seniors in Sandpoint and Clark Fork each spring. The shopping spree fundraiser will add money to the coffers to support that effort.

For its part, Yoke’s has a solid history of supporting the communities it calls home, from running local food drives to supporting organizations such as Second Harvest and Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital.

Add the Rainbow Soup Kitchen to that mix and the philanthropic chemistry is powerful, to say the least. It seems natural, then, that Jan Welle and Dick Stroda would have been caught up in the spirit of giving.

“We know that this donation gift will help provide supplies for the kitchen and the food they prepare will nurture others in the community,” said Welle. “But our donation is just a very small contribution compared to the gifts given to others by the Gardenia Center.”

“This gift will be especially useful, because we have several people who have said they would be willing to make soup, but they couldn’t afford to buy the ingredients,” said Cook. “This shopping spree will allow us to gather a shopping cart full of ingredients for our soup.”

Along with Welle and Stroda’s grand prize, the other winners of the PEO drawing were: Sally Loury, $200 Yoke’s gift certificate; Marilyn Chartock, $100 gift certificate, and; Cindy Nicholson, $50 certificate.

The Rainbow Soup Kitchen is held every Wednesday from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., in the lower level of the Gardenia Center, located at 400 Church St., in Sandpoint. For information on the center’s facilities and activities, visit: www.gardeniacenter.com

Those wishing to volunteer or bring soup for the Rainbow Soup Kitchen can contact Carla Cook by calling 208-264-0176.

Information: PEO, peointernational.org