Gonzaga University Group Pitching In To Renovate Kids’ Camp

From Community Update column, Sunday, May 12, 1996: Correction: The phone number for Camp Make-A-Dream was previously reported incorrectly. The correct number is (406) 549-5987.

April’s Angels, a student group affiliated with Gonzaga (University) Volunteer Services, will help spruce up Camp Dart-lo, a day camp run by Campfire Boys and Girls for kids 6 to 12 years old, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Hundreds of participants - including GU students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and community members - are expected to volunteer.

The 50-acre camp is in dire need of improvements. Volunteers will paint, wash windows, rake leaves, build benches, repair buildings, improve trails …

Many sponsors, including the Gonzaga Student Body Association and Ziegler Lumber Co., have contributed to the project.

The camp is 15 miles north of the university on the Little Spokane River. Buses, providing transportation both to and from the site, will leave DeSmet Circle on Gonzaga’s campus at 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

April’s Angels, founded last year by GU students, is a community service group that aids nonprofit organizations geared towards helping kids. Last year, the students helped renovate Trinity Elementary.

Members are seeking community volunteers for this year’s project, and morning and afternoon shifts are available.

For more information, call Jennifer Carr, 324-0335, or Gonzaga Volunteer Services, 328-4220, ext. 2224.

Fundraisers

Miryam’s Auxiliary will host a Victorian benefit tea at 3 this afternoon at Angelica’s Mansion, 1321 W. Ninth, to celebrate 10 years of service to Spokane-area women.

Miryam’s House of Transition is a residential program that provides a home-like environment for women recovering from abuse, addiction and poverty. Since 1986, the residential program has helped women develop life skills to support permanent change for themselves and their families.

Proceeds from the $20 tea tickets will support the programs and services of Miryam’s House.

The Spokane Guilds’ School will hold its 25th annual golf tournament May 4 at the Wandemere Golf Course. The $50 entry fee includes lunch.

Call 326-1651 for more information. Entry deadline is Thursday.

An original painting by Janene Grende, a Sandpoint artist, will be the grand prize for the Coeur d’Alene Audubon Society’s raffle - “It’s for the Birds.”

Grende’s art work depicts a a red-breasted nuthatch and a downy woodpecker sharing a tree trunk.

Other raffle items include a Bradford Exchange plate, a birchbark bird feeder and a wall plaque.

The items will be displayed at Duncan’s Garden and Nursery, 711 W. Second, until Saturday, and at Wild Bird Crossing, 7352 Government Way, until May 10.

The $1 raffle tickets are available at the display sites or from Audubon members. All proceeds will help fund group projects, including sending someone to a week-long ecology camp and adopting a Mica Bay wetland.

The drawing will be May 11 at Farragut State Park.

For more information, call (208) 664-1085.

The Spokane Police Department and the Spokane Sheriff’s Department will compete in a basketball game at 7 p.m., Saturday, at North Central High School, to raise money for the Washington Drug-Free Youth Program. Local media have been invited to act as cheerleaders.

Tickets are $7.50, or $5 for drug-free program members. Tickets for a family of four are $24, with additional member tickets for $6.

Call 324-8555 for more information or to order tickets.

Community Events

Laura Ashley, weather reporter for KXLY-TV, will be mistress of ceremonies for the May 17 Lilac Festival Royalty Luncheon at the Ridpath Hotel.

Royalty from surrounding communities will be special guests.

Tickets are $15. For reservations to the noon luncheon, preceded by no-host cocktails at 11:15, call Elizabeth Thrams, 448-6132; or send a check with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to 2202 E. 50th, Spokane, WA. 99223.

The Rev. Frank Costello will be the guest speaker for the Greater Gonzaga University Guild’s spring luncheon at 12:30 Tuesday at the Bozarth Convention and Retreat Center.

For more information, call 327-4558.

Some 700 second-grade students in Spokane will plant thornless honey locust trees for the national “Grow Your Own Tree,” an environmental education program sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation and Pella Corp.

The students will not only learn more about trees, but about environmental responsibility, as well.

Grow Your Own Tree began in 1991 and reaches 850,000 students nationwide.

Volunteer Opportunities

Spokane Mental Health will conduct a week-long volunteer recruitment fair with booths set up from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Saturday, in a variety of locations throughout the city.

Programs needing volunteers include Car Care for Elders, 24-Hour Crisis Hotline, SCAN and Senior Peer Counseling.

Fair dates and locations are:

Monday - Camlu Retirement Center, 13013 Mission

Tuesday - Corbin Community Center, 827 W. Cleveland Wednesday - South Hill Senior Center, 2727 S. Mount Vernon

Thursday - Valley Senior Center, 11423 E. Mission

Friday - Hillyard, 4001 N. Cook

Saturday - Harvard Park Retirement Center, 1616 E. 30th.

For more information, call 458-7450.

Camp Make-A-Dream, a residential camp for children with cancer and other serious illnesses, needs volunteers. The camp in Missoula, Mont., is now operated year-round, with adolescent, family and sibling camps added to the regular summer camp.

With growth, comes an increased need for volunteer support - anything from physical labor, assisting with art classes to computer data input. Volunteer opportunities exist in this community or at the camp. For more information, call (406) 549-5967.

MEMO: For community event items, mail a news release to Community Update, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210.