Chamber Honors Kinderhaven

The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce recognizes Kinderhaven as November’s Business of the Month. Established 1996, Kinderhaven is an emergency shelter and group foster home that has helped over 1400 children. It is the only facility of its kind in North Idaho, a non-profit that is run by a volunteer Board of Directors and is open 24 hours a day every day of the year.

Currently, there are 15 children in Kinderhaven’s care. Their license is for 16 children so they are close to the max. Children stay as long as they need and some have been there up to 18 months. They care for children ranging in age from birth to 18 years.

With $18,000-$20,000 in monthly operating costs and 86% of it coming from our community, it is a true community non-profit. The state provides between $9-$14/day depending on the age of the child. “We obviously couldn’t help the children we do without the community’s support,” said Phyllis Horvath, Executive Director of Kinderhaven.

Kinderhaven’s Festival of Trees is one of community’s more prominent events during the holiday season, and it is right around the corner.
December 1st, Family Night, is the first event from 4-6:30pm with Santa on hand and is free to the public. December 2nd is the Holiday Luncheon at 11am. The luncheon includes a silent auction, lunch, and viewing of the trees but it is already SOLD OUT. December 3rd is The Progressive Gala at 5:30pm. This is the largest event and is a two-part evening. First is a silent auction with hors d’oeuvres and a no host bar. The remainder of the evening will be a wonderful dinner catered by Ivano’s and a live auction of the fabulous trees. Tickets are $70 or a table sponsorship is $1000 and includes 8 seats.

All proceeds of Kinderhaven’s Festival of Trees go to Kinderhaven. “Your involvement truly makes a difference in the lives of the children who come to us,” said Horvath. Tickets can be acquired by contacting Jacinda Bokowy at 208-610-2208 or jbokowy@mac.com. It takes a tremendous amount of work to put on these events. If you or your organization is interested in volunteering time to help the Festival of Trees, email kathychambers@gmail.com.

Please join the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce in congratulating Kinderhaven in being honored as November’s Business of the Month. The Festival of Trees is right around the corner and you should attend to support Kinderhaven and their wonderful work. For more information or to donate, visit http://www.kinderhavensandpoint.com or call 208-265-2236.


Photos: Left to Right Chamber Ambassador Carol Warren presents Kinderhaven’s Tami Stormo, Executive Director Phyllis Horvath, and Ruth Wimberly with Business of the Month award.

Chamber Welcomes Disaster Masters

The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce welcomes Home Disaster 24 Hour Emergency Response to the community. With over 20 years’ experience in the construction industry, the Gavin’s established Home Disaster 24 Hour Emergency Response in April of 2011. “Let us fix your Home Disaster! 24 hour emergency response,” is their slogan and they are ready to respond to any emergency 24 hours a day.

Home Disaster 24 Hour Emergency Response is certified to do mold remediation, water mitigation and smoke & fire restoration through The Clean Trust, formerly the IICRC. “We are always continuing our education to ensure that all standards are being met,” owner, Sean Gavin explained. “We respond 24 hours a day to home emergencies requiring immediate attention. Basement floods, broken pipes, septic floods, tree limbs falling on homes, collapsed roofs due to snow weight, fires, and we’ve even responded to cars driving into buildings, and vandalism.”

What else do they do? Well, they deal directly with your insurance agency to ensure your claim gets taken seriously. They offer air quality tests to determine if there is unseen mold in your home. Plus, they use environmentally friendly “green” and effective cleaning agents for all of their projects.

Not only that, but Home Disaster 24 Hour Emergency Response offers incentives for referrals and repeat customers. Currently, they offer free board ups when responding to fire situations. “We try to take the stress out of your home disasters,” said Jamie Gavin. “We really do care about getting your home back into working order as quickly as we can.” They even accept major credit cards for deductibles or repairs.

The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce wishes Home Disaster 24 Hour Emergency Response success and is pleased they have joined our community. For more information or if you have an emergency, call Home Disaster 24 Hour Emergency Response at (208) 263-1058.

Photo: Left to Right Chamber Ambassadors Connie Rosco & Carol Warren, The Home Disaster 24 Hour Emergency Response team Alicia Abbott, Jamie Gavin, Sean Gavin, Tony Miller, Wade Davis and Ambassadors Clem Hackworthy & Peggy Shadel.

Chambert Welcomes My Legacy Videos

The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce welcomes My Legacy Videos to the community. Mike and Alicia Strain have started this personalized video service to help others celebrate their life story. Honor history with a unique and cutting edge way to document your family history or life memories in a creative, heartfelt, and everlasting video that can be shared with generations to come.

Each video and package is customizable to fit any budget or need. There are a variety of memorabilia that you can include in your movie like photos, slides, home movies, interviews of family and friends, and complimentary music. Storytelling is very powerful and these videos offer an opportunity to never lose one ever again.

Being able to see someone tell a story is more meaningful than flipping through a scrapbook or photo album. My Legacy Video will come to your home or find an environment that is comfortable for the interviewees. A home setting may spur many other memories and allow the interviewee the opportunity to be in their element.

To kick off their company, the Strain’s have taken on a very honorable cause; Life After Service: North Idaho Veterans. This project has two purposes. First, it is to help Veterans understand the resources they have available to them in our small community. Secondly, they hope to inform the general public about our local Veterans, how they can support Veterans, and how Veterans give back to the community. The overall goal is to carryout this project in other communities throughout the northwest.

However, this project needs help launching and you can help. There are less than 20 days to help make this video for Veterans a real and obtainable resource. To learn more and to contribute, visit www.kickstarter.com/profile/lifeafterservice.

The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce wishes My Legacy Videos success and is pleased they have joined our community. For more information, visit www.mylegacyvideos.com or call 208-290-8182. To contribute to the Life After Service project, go to your local Mountain West Bank or their Kick Starter website.

Photo: Left to Right Chamber Ambassadors Carol Warren, Clem Hackworthy, Idaho State Representative George Eskridge, My Legacy Video owners Mike and Alicia Strain, Ambassadors Erin Butler, Peggy Shadel, and Dawn Spell.

Chamber Welcomes The Rotary Club of the Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce

SANDPOINT- The Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce welcomes the Rotary Club of Sandpoint.

“The Rotary Club of Sandpoint is proud to join the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce and its member businesses,” said Rotarian PR spokesman, Matt Kerr. Kerr then explained that, “the Rotary Club has been a part of Sandpoint since 1966 and has been a great supporter of our community over the years. Sandpoint’s Rotary Club is 70+ strong and part of the larger Rotary International organization, with 1.22 million members in 33,976 clubs in over 200 countries.”

Among the many local projects they’ve completed are playgrounds at Travers park, the patio at the library, stairs from Bridge St to the board walk, outdoor bathrooms at Farmin Stidwell, the Clock Tower at Farmin Park, assisted with funding for bathrooms at Jeff Jones Square, assisted with patio installation at The Daybreak Center, and a picnic shelter at Memorial Field. They also take pride in their scholarship program, sponsoring local students for over 20 years; this year they gave just over $17,000.

Their newest fund raiser, The Great Sandpoint Flatwater Regatta, is growing in attendance and popularity and should provide our community with even more in scholarship money in the coming years. Combined with our new 501 (c) 3 Charitable Trust, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds and website, Sandpoint Rotary is positioned to serve the citizens of Sandpoint and the Greater Sandpoint area for another 50 years and more.

Please join the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce in thanking the Rotary Club of Sandpoint for their great citizenship in our community and wish them success in the upcoming year and welcoming to the chamber. If you’re interested in getting engaged in the community and would like to learn more about joining the club, contact their membership chairman Toby McLaughlin for more information.

Photo: President Jerri Anderson cuts the ribbon with the support of the Sandpoint Rotary Club members and the Greater Sandpoint Chamber Ambassadors.