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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Megan Cooley

This individual is no longer an employee with The Spokesman-Review.

All Stories

News >  Spokane

Making a difference, dollar by dollar

Earlier this month, The Spokesman-Review published a story that touched on the history of the Christmas Bureau. The article explained that the Christmas Fund started in 1945 as a fundraiser for a GI who lost his eyesight, one arm below the elbow and the use of his other hand in a mine explosion in Germany.
News >  Spokane

Kids share giving spirit

When Spokane residents Larry and Renee Cebula first told their son about the Christmas Bureau – a place where needy families can “shop” for Christmas presents for free – Sam’s reaction was probably pretty typical for a kid. “He said, ‘Can I go?’ ” Larry recalled.
News >  Spokane

Teenage helpers’ skills are priceless

Christmas Bureau volunteers come from all walks of life. Some have never had to worry about affording to feed their families. Others, at some point while the bureau was open, stood in line and received help like the almost 35,900 other recipients.
News >  Spokane

Clients’ gratitude repays donors in full

Although she grew up in Spokane, Crystal Ugolini had never heard of the Christmas Bureau before last week. Ugolini and her husband moved back to Spokane from Georgia this year, after he ended his military career. With five children – including a 9-year-old with autism and a 1-year-old with a bone disease and a deformed leg – the couple have their hands full. They work opposite shifts so one of them is always with the children, and their budget is tight.
News >  Spokane

it’s bureau’s last day

The 2009 Christmas Bureau will shut its doors today after 10 days of service to the Spokane area’s neediest families. Meanwhile, the Rev. Msgr. Frank Bach, a retired Catholic priest who has been involved with the bureau since 1964, will close his own chapter. Bach, 79, is stepping down as one of the program’s volunteer organizers.
News >  Spokane

Donors hail from all walks of life

Some donors give their names, perhaps hoping to spur friends and colleagues to donate, too. Others, including some of Spokane’s most well-known figures, prefer to remain anonymous.While the vast majority of donations to The Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund come from the Spokane area, donors in remote parts of Washington and as far away as Illinois have sent checks this year. On Thursday, a donation came from one of the most unlikely sources: a Christmas Bureau recipient.
News >  Spokane

Many visitors are new to need

Christmas Bureau volunteers say they’re hearing it over and over: Recipients are seeking help from the charity for the first time, often because a family member recently lost a job. “They feel like they’re out of options,” said volunteer Bonni Atkinson, of Valleyford.
News >  Spokane

Kindness in other words

Imagine being poor and hungry and wanting to celebrate Christmas with your family. Now imagine you don’t understand the language spoken where you live. You don’t know where or how to apply for a job. You can’t read signs telling people where they can find help.
News >  Spokane

Generosity spans more than 60 years

Since it began 64 years ago, the basic elements of The Spokesman-Review Christmas Fund have remained the same. Men, women and children have opened their wallets and hearts to help people they don’t know enjoy a brighter Christmas.
News >  Spokane

Charity’s goal inches up to $500,000

Volunteers of America Executive Director Marilee Roloff once read something Oprah Winfrey said, and it has always stuck with her. When Winfrey was 12 and living on welfare with her mother and two siblings, three nuns came to their door with food and gifts on Christmas.
News >  Features

Show shoppers

There are two kinds of shopping. There’s the shopping you do when you need something – a tube of toothpaste, a jar of pickles, whatever – and you could care less whether the store that carries it looks like a warehouse or a wonderland.
News >  Features

Do-it-yourself decorations

Coeur d’Alene crafter Rebecca Martin’s Christmas tree ornaments were a hit at last month’s Custer’s Christmas Arts & Crafts Show at the Spokane County Fair and Expo Center. She said the colorful round decorations – which are made from the tops of aluminum food cans – had two things going for them: They could be personalized with someone’s name or other message and, perhaps more important, they were cheap.
News >  Features

Light ’em up

Joe Stoy is dreaming of a white Christmas. That’s because last year’s snow created a perfect backdrop for the woodland light scene he and his wife, Kathy, created in their Spokane Valley yard.
News >  Features

Back to cool

Like most of us, Deena Moe-Caruso recycles paper and plastic in her curbside bin once a week. But on every other day, she also recycles fashion trends. At Finder’s Keepers Fashion Flashback, one of three retail shops she owns in downtown Spokane, Moe-Caruso sells top-quality vintage clothing, giving new life to clothes and accessories that might otherwise be headed for the landfill.
News >  Features

Out of the rough

Location. Location. Location. The age-old real estate rule applied when Spokane resident Todd Wood first eyed his 1954 ranch-style house overlooking the fourth hole of Manito Country Club’s golf course.
News >  Features

Great pumpkins

Halloween, like most holidays, has seen its share of trends come and go. Trick-or-treaters have moved from front doorsteps to malls and churches. Popular costumes have switched from witches and ghosts to Hannah Montana and Harry Potter. And while pumpkins are still the squash of choice when it comes to décor, the one-toothed, three-triangled Jack-O’- Lanterns that used to adorn most porches seem to be disappearing. Today, people are finding creative ways to make their pumpkins stand out from the rest of the patch.
News >  Features

Muckin’&Junkin’

Roxanne Grimm loves the thrill of the chase. When she’s off “muckin’ and junkin’ ” for secondhand treasures, her heart races as she searches for unique finds. She might stumble upon a coffee table with great lines that simply needs a coat of paint. She might find a dresser that would be perfect for a child’s room after switching out the knobs.
A&E >  Food

So long, sugar

Betsy Phinney has seen her 4-year-old daughter, Madeleine, crash. Not on her bicycle. Phinney is referring to the energy crash that comes after a sugar high. That’s why Phinney carefully chooses the snack foods Madeleine eats, including the foods she sends with her daughter to preschool.
News >  Features

Play with your food

A growing number of parents are making toys for their children rather than buying them, and there are all sorts of reasons why. Some have concerns about the safety of products made in countries with looser safety regulations than the United States.
News >  Features

Fashionable florals

Need a little inspiration next time you put together a floral arrangement? Look no further than the fashion runways. Fashion designers make a lot of money figuring out what color combinations will be en vogue each season. There’s no reason why you can’t swipe their ideas and apply them to flowers (and home décor in general, for that matter).
News >  Features

Fashionable florals

Need a little inspiration next time you put together a floral arrangement? Look no further than the fashion runways. Fashion designers make a lot of money figuring out what color combinations will be en vogue each season. There’s no reason why you can’t swipe their ideas and apply them to flowers (and home décor in general, for that matter).
News >  Features

Flower makers share tricks

When my sister and I were young, we would make carnationlike flowers out of Kleenex. We’d lay dozens of Kleenex pieces flat, fold them together like an accordion, tie the bundle in the middle, pull each individual sheet toward the center, then spray the bloom with perfume. I’m sure our mother was thrilled.
News >  Features

Let farmers’ market put blooms on your table

Some people fantasize about planting cutting gardens and selling their flowers at a roadside stand. The rest of us are happy buying bouquets at farmers’ markets from vendors who already have done all the hard work.
A&E >  Food

Carolyn’s Cakes breaks the mold on decorating

Few people have watched cake trends as closely as Carolyn Nichols, who owns Carolyn's Cake Decorating Supplies, at 1705 N. Hamilton St. She has been selling cake-making paraphernalia and teaching cake-decorating classes to Spokanites for 25 years, when she left her job as a secretary to follow her passion. "I always had cakes all over my house, cakes I was making for friends and family," Nichols said.