Congratulations to our WRWF 2020 Grant Recipients! Grants totalling $309,280 were awarded to seventeen nonprofits. Much gratitude goes to our Grant Committee volunteers for their dedication during the application process. And many, many thanks go to all 216 WRWF members who voted. Your overwhelming support during this important process is very much valued and appreciated!

WRWF awarded $15,000 to the I Have a Dream Foundation – Idaho, “Life Skills Initiative.” This grant will fund academic tutoring, guidance, and life skills learning, goal setting, and opportunities to give back to the community to 45 low-income students as they prepare for college or vocational school.

WRWF awarded $25,000 to The Advocates for Survivors of Domestic Violence. The funds will be used to purchase appliances for six apartments currently under construction. These apartments provide much needed safe, temporary housing for survivors of domestic violence.

WRWF awarded $25,000 to the Crisis Hotline’s “My Life Matters” program for middle school children. The program provides education in the schools about signs of depression and suicide, help options that are available to stay safe emotionally.

WRWF awarded $8,515 to the Hailey Public Library’s, “Tech Time.” This grant will enable the purchase of ten laptop computers, portable WiFi connectors, and new tables and chairs for the library’s Technology Enrichment and Collaborative Help Project.

WRWF awarded $75,000 to the Ketchum Community Development, Sustainability Advisory Committee (in collaboration with the Sun Valley Institute: A Center for Resilience and the Environmental Resource Center) for There is No Away – Waste Management. The grant will help create a countywide recycling and waste management program, enabling Blaine County to address global environmental issues at the local level.

WRWF awarded $20,000 to Men’s Second Chance Living to fund repairs and upgrades for plumbing and kitchen remodeling of a recently purchased house in Hailey, which will make it functional.

WRWF awarded $25,000 to NAMI-Wood River Valley to expand local support groups. Three schools will be added to the Bluebirds teen resiliency program which was developed by NAMI-WRV and is a one-of-a-kind program nationally.

WRWF awarded $25,000 to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center to help fund its annual Ski and Mountain Trauma Conference. The conference is the only one in the country for first responders and healthcare professionals. It combines educational presentations with hands-on training taught by pre-hospital care experts.

WRWF awarded $25,000 to the St. Luke’s Wood River Foundation, Keith Sivertson MD Compassionate Care Program. The program helps low- or no-income patients in Blaine County pay for supplemental healthcare resources, including transportation, medical supplies, medications and other health-related necessities.

WRWF awarded $25,000 to The Hunger Coalition to help fund the creation of a community room in the new Bloom Community Food Center. It will be used by visitors and for workshops with the Food Center’s partners, who include The Advocates, The Alliances, and St. Luke’s Mental Health Clinic.

WRWF awarded $18,600 to The Senior Connection’s Senior Comfort Zone project. The grant will fund the replacement of HVAC equipment in the original portion of the building.

WRWF awarded $15,000 to the Wood River Community YMCA’s Power Scholars Academy Camp. The five-week program is designed to address summer learning loss for academically low achieving children.

WRWF awarded $1,433 to 3rd Chance Inc. / B & G Produce’s, Good Food, Good Mood Program. It will provide drug court clients with locally grown produce to increase clients’ well-being and receptiveness to therapy.

WRWF awarded $1,433 to the Blaine County Education Foundation for its School Scholarship Support. The grant will help expand the Foundation’s highly successful Scholarship Fair.

WRWF awarded $1,433 to the National Forest Foundation to help rebuild the popular Penny Lake fishing platform located near the lower Board Ranch on Warm Springs Road.

WRWF awarded $1,433 to the Sun Valley Culinary Institute to help fund its culinary education program.

WRWF awarded $1,433 to The Spot Sun Valley to support operating expenses for its fall production of the Young Company Musical. The play will include local students.

Carrie Morrow will become Membership Committee Co-Chair on August 1. She has been a member of the WRWF since 2016. Carrie is a member of the Board and the Endowment Founders’ Circle. She currently chairs WRWF’s Social Media platforms and is a Strategic Plan Implementation Team Lead.

On August 1, Terri LeFaivre will move from the Membership Committee to become Impact Committee Chair. She has been a member of the WRWF since 2013. Terri is a member of the Board and the Endowment Founders’ Circle.

Kit Wright will become Grants Committee Co-Chair on August 1. A member of WRWF since 2012, she is a member of the Endowment Founders’ Circle. Kit has also served on Grants teams for several years.

Idaho Gives, a program of the Idaho Nonprofit Center, is normally a one-day event designed to bring the state together, raising money and awareness for Idaho nonprofits. Due to the increased need of support to the nonprofit sector as a result of COVID-19, the online giving period has been extended! Click here to access Idaho Gives.

The Local Food Alliance has created a valuable online resource that identifies food options in the Wood River Valley during the COVID-19 isolation. This website provides important information from local public health officials, community food resources, grocery delivery and pickup, and local dining options for curbside pickup. Click here for more information from the Local Food Alliance.

The WRWF Finance Committee kindly reminds members to write checks out to the WRWF instead of the Idaho Community Foundation. We also ask that you send checks directly to: WRWF – P.O. Box. 3686, Ketchum, ID 83340. Please inform your charitable trusts of the change of address. Please note WRWF’s Tax ID should be used for tax purposes: 81-4000190.

With deep sympathy and gratitude for her generosity, we honor the passing of:

Audrey Bashaw, Member from 2006 until 2015
March 28, 2020

WRWF has a new way to help fund our foundation’s operating expenses. Through its program, AmazonSmile, Amazon donates .05% of eligible purchases to a selected charity. This allows you to donate automatically to the WRWF whenever you shop. To link Wood River Women’s Foundation AmazonSmile to your Amazon account, click here and get signed up. This simple adjustment to your Amazon account will not change anything about the way you currently shop or pay. Please note, you will need to use the smile.amazon.com website when you shop to generate donations to WRWF.

Thank you for participating in this worthwhile opportunity!

Welcome to our newest WRWF Members!

Karen Brown – Ketchum, ID
Melody Lindquist – Tucson, AZ

No matter where each of us is self-isolating, this Covid-19 experience of staying home to save lives has presented near-daily opportunities for self-reflection and for identifying resilience in ourselves and others.

Some of you may, like me, be experiencing feelings of loneliness, anxiety, and even a sense of loss, all of which are normal during times of crisis. I miss seeing my family and my friends in person; I feel anxious about the impact this crisis has had and will continue to have on our community, and I continue to ask myself: “How can I help?”

In times of stress, I gravitate towards finding something I can control when everything feels so uncontrollable—in today’s world, that something is resiliency. At the heart of resilience is a belief in ourselves and also a belief in something larger than ourselves.

Resilience can be found in volunteering, donating, seeking needed connections in creative ways, and in knowing that we all possess the ability to get through this together. Over the past several weeks, this has been proven time and time again as individual WRWF members, the organization itself, and numerous local nonprofits continue to demonstrate their unfaltering resiliency.

Here is just one example—albeit a significant one—of how WRWF has demonstrated resiliency: I am so proud of how we managed our application process this year. Our team and nonprofits did a fantastic job of presenting compelling grant applications; we had a record 216 members who voted to direct where our $309,280 pooled dollars would go. Once Blaine County was hit so fast and hard by Covid-19, we made the important decision not to restrict how nonprofits use their grants, but rather to allow them to use those dollars in whatever way they need to fulfill their missions as their organizations are facing extraordinary stress. Additionally, any remaining pooled dollars will now be evenly divided among the remaining nonprofits that fell short of the needed votes for fully funding their requests.

Our nonprofits truly appreciate WRWF support; we have received so many letters of thanks and deep gratitude. Our community is experiencing great hardship during these difficult times and local nonprofits have risen to the challenge by creating ways to continue to serve those most in need.

* The Crisis Hotline reported a 145% call volume increase over this time last year. They have now partnered with ProjecT.O.O.L to create a new bilingual support hotline.

* The Advocates staff is working 24/7 to protect some of the most vulnerable among us. They are assisting dozens of people each day and supporting 44 people in their onsite transitional housing and shelter. They continue to help their clients stay safe, fed, housed, and emotionally supported.

* The Hunger Coalition continues to see a rise in people and families needing food. They just received 20,000 pounds of food from The Idaho Foodbank, and Mountain Rides donated a space to store it. As our unemployment rate continues to skyrocket, so too does the need for nutritious food.

* NAMI continues to provide their support group meetings through online platforms. This is more important than ever at a time when many people are feeling especially isolated and anxious.

* The Senior Connection reports a dramatic rise in the number of meals delivered through their Meals on Wheels program, and WRWF members have stepped up as volunteer drivers and cooks to support valley seniors. I see their trucks around town and always give a shout out to these amazing volunteers.

These are just a few examples of the impressive resiliency that lives in our community, yet more can be done. This is a time to get to work, to ask ourselves how we can help, and to be courageous, strong and resilient.

My deepest gratitude to all of you who are working hard to support your communities wherever that may be. Your philanthropy has never been more needed.

Until next month,
Terri Bullock