Gifts galore
DEVIN WEEKS | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 4 months AGO
Devin Weeks is a third-generation North Idaho resident. She holds an associate degree in journalism from North Idaho College and a bachelor's in communication arts from Lewis-Clark State College Coeur d'Alene. Devin embarked on her journalism career at the Coeur d'Alene Press in 2013. She worked weekends for several years, covering a wide variety of events and issues throughout Kootenai County. Devin now mainly covers education, entertainment, human interest stories and serves as the editor of North Idaho Live Well magazine. She enjoys delivering daily chuckles through the Ghastly Groaner and loves highlighting local people in the Fast Five segment that runs in CoeurVoice. Devin lives in Post Falls with her husband and their two eccentric and very needy cats. | December 21, 2021 1:08 AM
COEUR d’ALENE — Baby Yoda, bicycles and a custom Power Wheel that's a mini replica of a Coeur d’Alene Police Ford Explorer will bring joy to pediatric patients in the next year.
The fun doesn't stop there.
On Monday, Coeur d’Alene Police personnel and employees of Les Schwab Tire Center delivered an abundance of toys and goodies to fill Andrea’s Closet, a program of Kootenai Health that gives toys to children in the hospital’s care.
"We provide little prizes for kids after they go through painful procedures, if they need to be cheered up," pediatric nurse manager Adriane Golob said. "They get to pick out a prize. We rotate the toys throughout the year and restock so they pick out whatever they like.”
It was a successful year for the Coeur d'Alene Police Foundation Children's Hospital Toy Drive, which collected roughly $25,000 in funds and items to support children's programs at Kootenai Health and Sacred Heart Children's Hospital in Spokane. Toys will be delivered to Sacred Heart today.
"I am always so blown away by the generosity of the community and the police department and Les Schwab,” Golob said. "This provides the amount of toys that we need for a year for all of our pediatric patients in the community. Every year it gets bigger and more generous. I’m always speechless about the generosity.”
Coeur d'Alene Police Sgt. S.C. Avriett started this generous gesture more than six years ago. He said this year, "we've done more, collected more, we had more donors for the foundation."
"Kids in our community deserve it," he said. "Kids who are not going to be able to be home over the holidays, they deserve to be spoiled. And if we can help make their Christmas a little brighter, especially if they’re in the hospital, that’s what we want to do. We want to give back to our community and take care of the kids who are in a place they probably don’t want to be."
Les Schwab, Numerica Credit Union, Hayden Walmart, Nutrishop, Cosmic Cowboy and Anchored Coffee all contributed to the drive, Avriett said, along with numerous kind hearts in the community.
"It just continues to grow and it’s awesome," he said.
ARTICLES BY DEVIN WEEKS
Back Country Association helps keep trails open
Back Country Association helps keep trails open
Massive trees that topple onto trails on public lands don't stay in the way for long. Members of the Back Country ATV-UTV Association roar up mountains through dust, mud, puddles, sunshine and snow to find these obstructions and safely remove them to keep the trails open, accessible and tree free. "The one we just cut down there was deader than a doornail," Norman Molberg of Athol said during a trail-clearing expedition April 25. "It was like cutting through a roll of paper towels."
Silverwood opens for 38th season Saturday
Silverwood opens for 38th season Saturday
Special anniversary admission prices of $38 for general tickets and $19.88 for seniors and kids ages 3-7 will mark the first day of Silverwood Theme Park's 38th season when the gates open at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Post Falls High School chefs place sixth at national competition
Post Falls High School chefs place sixth at national competition
Student chefs from Post Fall High School made history when Team Idaho won sixth place at the National ProStart Invitational last weekend in Baltimore.