Tree of Sharing Thank You

The Rotary Club of Colville sponsored the Tree of Sharing community service project again last December. The program provided gifts for 275 youth and special needs adults in the greater Colville community who otherwise may not have received one during the holiday season. The individuals who received gifts from the tree were recommended by the following agencies: Rural Resources, Colville Food Bank, Addy Rescue Mission, and EWU Early Head Start Program.

Rotary wants to thank everyone who helped make this year’s program a success. First, all of you who took tags from the tree, purchased gifts and donated so generously. You are truly the heart and soul of this program. Also, a big thank you to those who made cash donations, used to purchase gifts for tags that were left on the tree. A special thanks to the local Walmart store and the Walmart Foundation for their grant of $ 2500. Also thank you to other major donors: Webster Law Office; Gramma Deanie’s Gifts and Goodies; Mary Selecky; Lance and Dana Lafley; Rod and Sue Fogle; and Caroline Dotts for once again donating a bunch of her beautiful handmade quilts.

Volunteers are essential for a successful project and we could not do this without them. Approximately 60 people from the Colville Rotary Club, Colville community members, and the CHS honor society students gave freely of their time. A special thank you to the Tree of Sharing Committee members and Liz Shaw for once again organizing the tag preparation, gift purchasing, processing, and distribution.

Thank you to the Statesman Examiner for your article in the paper to kick off the program and KCVL for your public service announcements throughout the project. Colville Printing donated posters and advertising flyers that were distributed at the Safeway, Super One, and Grocery Outlet stores in Colville. Also, thanks to KeyBank for handling our account and providing storage for the signs and support equipment.

The Tree of Sharing headquarters was moved to the Ag Trade Center at the fairgrounds when the pandemic hit in 2020. Thank you to Lori Matlock for making special accommodations and her assistance in keeping the project running smoothly. While the primary Tree was located at the Ag Trade Center, the following businesses graciously hosted a satellite Tree at their location to give us a better presence on main street: Reimagined Home, Home Suite Home, RE/ MAX, Norstar, and State Farm.

Everyone involved in the Tree of Sharing program should be proud of what you did to make a positive impact on the lives of so many people in the Colville community. We can’t thank you enough.

Colville Rotary Tree of Sharing Committee Co- Chairman,

Ozzie Wilkinson & Bruce Richartz