Numerous local nonprofits are participating in the Idaho Gives fundraiser from April 29 to May 6 for causes including outdoor education, pet programs and water quality monitoring.

Dennison Webb, executive director of Selkirk Outdoor Leadership and Education, said the organization has been participating in Idaho Gives since it began.

The organization’s funding from the fundraiser will go to the youth scholarship fund, which helps fund students’ participation in outdoor education programs.

Those programs include winter snow science, ecology and conservation literacy and an outdoor summer science camp called junior naturalist for elementary age students, and LEAD Experience, a program for middle and high school aged students.

The education fits into a STEM curriculum, he said, and students learn to process and analyze the data.

“We compare and contrast the historical trends,” Webb said. “[For instance], over 90% of our fresh water comes from our snowpack.”

This year, SOLE is partnering with the William Wishnick Foundation to raise matching funds up to $5,000.

Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness will also have a matching fund from various local donors up to $2,000, said Kelsey Maxwell, communications and outreach coordinator.

The organization works to maintain trails, host family-friendly outdoor education, guided hikes and provide safety information to hikers, Maxwell said.

“That money goes right back to the work we do on the ground and in the community,” she said. “We encourage everybody, no matter what kind of donation they can make, to make a donation and then get involved.”

Another local organization, Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeepers, will also be raising money through Idaho Gives.

The donations will go to help with programs including water monitoring on Lake Pend Oreille and Lake Pend Oreille River, said Carolyn Knaack, LPOW associate director.

That program will be monitoring 13 different locations this year, Knaack said, looking at 11 different parameters of biological, chemical and physical tests.

The donations will also go toward funding stormwater runoff monitoring.

“There are 30 outfalls into Sand Creek and Lake Pend Oreille where unfiltered stormwater runs in,” Knaack said. “[In the past], we’ve detected carcinogens and heavy metals and diesel.”

The Better Together Animal Alliance will also be participating, and hopes to raise $5,000 for feline services, said Development Director Paige McGowan.

Last summer, BTAA had to suspend its trap, neuter and return program because of short staffing and a shortage in personal protective equipment, she said. This year, that program is a priority, as is microchipping.

“National reunification rates for cats is about 3%,” McGowan said. “We want to really invest in getting cats that come to us microchipped.”

In addition to those services, BTAA plans to buy materials for cat fosters, particularly fostering litters of kittens.

“We use that to buy bottles, bottle nipples and formula,” she said. “Our average donation is $25, and that’s why I tell people, every penny counts.”

American Heritage Wildlife Foundation, another nonprofit fundraising throughout the event, helps rehabilitate wildlife with expert care. The organization is completely volunteer-run, said founder Kathleen St.Clair-McGee.

The organization relies entirely on community donations, she said, and is certified to rehabilitate roughly 170 of 180 wild animals species in Idaho.

Last year, she said, volunteers clocked in roughly 4,000 volunteer hours, and the organization receives around 400 calls per year.

The fundraiser is particularly important to her, and other nonprofits, St.Clair-McGee said, because many other fundraisers were canceled due to the pandemic.

“We’re not actually able to get into the community and set up at the restaurants and pubs and parks, so it’s really important, that word of mouth,” she said.

That same problem impacted Community Cancer Services, said executive director Cindy Marx.

CCS provides financial support, gas vouchers, counseling and support groups, medical equipment, as well as wigs, hats, scarves and post-mastectomy products for people with cancer in Bonner and Boundary counties.

The organization works with roughly 200-250 people per year, Marx said. The services are essential to many people diagnosed with cancer — particularly travel costs and living expenses, which are not covered by insurance.

Many people with cancer in Idaho have to travel hundreds of miles for appointments, she said, and it’s a hidden cost people without cancer rarely consider. Moreover, bodies recovering from cancer need nourishing food, which can be difficult on a limited budget.

“Many of these people are in their 50s or 60s on fixed incomes,” she said. “No one budgets for cancer.”

The Sandpoint Music Conservatory, which provides free, reduced-cost and scholarship programs to roughly 200 students per year, will also be fundraising.

The music conservatory teaches roughly 500 students per year of all ages, said board president Kathi Samuels. The conservatory teaches children in K-12 in a wide variety of instruments and styles including voice, string, contemporary and many others.

This year, the conservatory is creating a symphony, which members of the public can help fund by “buying” notes, she said.

“The pandemic has been challenging,” Samuels said. “Music is such a healing element for times like this.”

Other local organizations participating in Idaho gives include the Sandpoint Teen Center, Creations, the Selkirk Conservation Alliance, Memorial Community Center and

Kaniksu Land Trust.

Donations can be made at idahogives.org.