SANDPOINT — Most know Rick Steves as a famous travel writer and television personality.

(His travel series "Rick Steves' Europe" has encouraged Americans to explore beyond the tourist hot spots.)

However, it is for something in the Edmonds, Wash., resident's hometown that is garnering the attention these days after Steves bought the property housing the Lynnwood Hygiene Center to keep the facility from having to close down.

According to a story on the Good News Network website, Steves was in Arizona when he logged into the My Edmonds News website and learned the center was in danger of closing. The center provides not only access to basic hygiene but access to warm spaces, hot meals and a bi-monthly medical clinic, according to the GNN story.

The property's owner had let the Jean Kim Foundation, which operates the center, use the former emissions testing facility site rent-free but now was in the position of having to sell the site.

Steves, who attends church two blocks from the center, was stunned both to learn of its existence — and its dilemma. 

Steves got in touch with the property owner and it wasn't long before the pair reached an agreement for the Edmonds resident to purchase the site. Steves then reached out to the Lynwood center's executive director Sandra Mears, who'd been reaching out to everyone she could think of in an attempt to stave off the facility's closure.

It was in the midst of all of the noes that Mears opened Steves' email. He told her he'd bought the property and the center now had a permanent home — right where it was. It would never again have to worry and the residents who relied on the center had a place to go.

“I vividly remember what it’s like as a kid backpacking around the world to need a shower,” Steves said at the event, according to a story on the My Edmonds News website. “This is a place that gives countless people that are down and out a shower.”

The news meant that Mears was able to cancel a planned "goodbye party" and instead hold a celebration of joy, with Steves as the keynote speaker, the GNN story said.

“This [center] was going to shut down. It would be vacated right now. It would empty for this Christmas,” Steves told the Washington Post. “Love thy neighbor has nothing to do with proximity, that’s a lesson I’ve learned as a traveler.”

The Sandpoint Lions share their love for the youngest of the community's neighbors in the form of its annual Toys for Tots Christmas campaign.

Today's generous donations, totaling $900, come from Daniel E. Hull, Diane L. Syth and Danielle Ruhmshottel, "in memory of Tevis and Yvonne Hull," $100; Barbara J. & Gary H. Ridley, $50; Nancy E Sater, "in memory of my darling, Caroline Sater, for the Toys for Tots program from her Grandma Nancy," $100; Dan & Patty McLaughlin, $50; American Legion Post 15, $500; and anonymous, "in memory of those who are no longer with us: Eleanor, Bill, Larry, Barbara, and Jennifer," $100.

To date, the campaign has raised $46,928.67 of the $75,000 needed to ensure every child in the community has a merry Christmas.

The Lions want to make sure every child in the community has a merry Christmas — each and every year. While Christmas has passed, the Lions are still working to hit their goal to ensure a merry Christmas is had in 2026. (Much of the funds raised each year goes toward the coming year to help the Lions make the most of each dollar donated.)

To help the Lions attempt to meet their $75,000 goal, the Toys for Tots drive is continuing through Dec 31.

Won’t you join them in making a donation — it doesn’t matter how big or how small — and help the Sandpoint Lions Club reach its goal for Toys for Tots?

Donations can be made at a variety of local businesses, listed below and including the Daily Bee at 310 Church St., Sandpoint, or online at bit.ly/LionsToysForTots.

Each year, the Lions team up with local businesses and residents through Toys for Tots to ensure everyone has a merry Christmas.

Funds raised go toward purchasing new toys for area children — or gift cards for older youth — who live in the Lake Pend Oreille School District.

Every Christmas, the Lions help almost 1,000 area children, from Sandpoint to Clark Fork and all points in between.

Donations may be mailed to the Sandpoint Lions Club, P.O. Box 414, Sandpoint, ID 83864, or dropped into any coin jar around town. Donations should include a note that it is for Toys for Tots and, if you wish to remain anonymous, please mention that in your note.

Donations made by check are preferred. Be sure to include a note with your check indicating that it is a Toys for Tots donation. If you wish to make an anonymous donation, please include a note.

If the donation is being made in someone’s name, be sure to also include a note.

Each day during the drive, donors’ names will be published along with the amount of their donations. A running total will be included to help the community know where the Toys for Tots campaign stands.

If you can, please consider donating. Every penny, every dollar adds up, and if we all pitch in, we can make this, once again, a successful Toys for Tots campaign. Additional donations help the Lions buy ahead and make the most of the community’s generous support.

In Sandpoint, toys and donations can be dropped off at the Bonner County Daily Bee, Mr. Sub, Columbia Bank, Connie’s Cafe, Serv-A-Burger, Mountain West Bank, Pivo Peaks Alehouse, Sandpoint Family Medicine and Urgent Care, and the Bonner County Fairgrounds.

In Sagle, toys and donations can be dropped off at Buckin’ Beans and Encoder Products (in the front lobby, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.).

In Ponderay, toys and donations can be dropped off at Alpenglow Salon, Walmart, North 40, Columbia Bank, Arnie’s, Better Together Animal Shelter, Community Resource EnVision Center, Litehouse, Elite Tire, Vinnie Todd’s Barbershop, Hoot Owl, Papa Murphy’s and Mountain West Bank.

Information: Sandpoint Lions Club, 208-263-4118, [email protected] or bit.ly/SandpointLions