Task Force Gets Boost From Hewlett-Packard
The educational fight against hatred, racism and intolerance received $5,000 in fuel from Hewlett-Packard’s Spokane division Tuesday.
“This is our first major contribution,” said Mary Lou Reed, former North Idaho state senator and now president of the newly formed Human Rights Education Foundation. “We all recognize the time to strike is now and the way to strike is education.
“I think this is going to be an inspiration - it expands our horizons of where we might go.”
Hewlett-Packard believes education will make the largest strides in changing the hearts and minds of people, explained Liz Cook, of H-P. The education foundation, an arm of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, will use the money on both sides of the border.
H-P hopes its donation will prompt other businesses to contribute.
“I think there’s a strong case to be made for diversity and inclusiveness,” Cook said. It’s key to anyone operating in a global market, such as H-P.
“It’s good for business,” Cook said. “On an altruistic basis, it’s the right thing to do.”
The education foundation was officially formed in February and held a fund-raiser banquet in April where it raised $7,000. The idea grew, in part, out of last year’s Aryan Nation’s march.
The task force raised about $35,000 for various human rights groups by asking people to pledge donations based on the amount of time the neo-Nazis paraded up and down Coeur d’Alene’s Sherman Avenue. Some $24,000 from the so-called “Lemons to Lemonade” effort went to the task force, which put the money toward speakers, library materials, and other educational efforts in the schools.
For more than 15 years, the task force has helped victims, pushed major human rights legislation, and made other efforts. But education is the most important thing it can do, said Doug Creswell, president of the task force and former superintendent of Coeur d’Alene schools.
H-P thoroughly examined the task force’s programs before deciding to make the donation.
“We were looking for some real positive influences in the community,” said Kim Greer of H-P. “I especially liked the idea of the educational role. I think young minds are the place you can make a difference.”
The announcement of the donation also was accompanied by the Coeur d’Alene Chamber of Commerce announcing it was forming a partnership with the Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce called the “CEO Diversity Group.” Part of the effort will include employment outreach to people from diverse backgrounds, said Dee Jameson, chairman of the Coeur d’Alene Chamber.
The group also will give a regional push to the anti-hate message and showing people that the “area and quality of life is enhanced by diversity,” he said.
A few weeks ago, the two chambers and the business community purchased newspaper ads proclaiming “The Right to March Does Not Mean the March Is Right.” That is aimed at the Aryan Nation’s plans to hold another parade in Coeur d’Alene this year - either July 3 or July 10.
Ken Olsen can be reached at (208) 765-7130 or by e-mail at keno@spokesman.com.