Rockford community center dream blossoms with $10,000 grant

There is a small group of people in Rockford trying to make a difference.

Two years ago, Todd Hart and Mary-Lou Benson approached the town council to look into how Rockford might get its own community center.

“We started a task force,” Benson said. The two started gathering community volunteers to plan activities for kids in the area. They partnered with the Lion’s Club in Rockford to hold dances at the Grange.

“We kept going, trying to get kids interested,” she said.

In the two years since they approached the town council, the group has grown. Lorrie Pope is now the chairwoman of the community center, Benson is the secretary and Vivian Plank is the treasurer. Hart, the original chairman of the group, is still working closely with them, but is also working to be a lay minister.

“He ministers to anyone who needs it,” Benson said.

In fact, Hart gave the group a space next door to the liquor store that he owns to set up shop. He rents the space to the community center, 1 S. First St., Rockford, for $1 a year.

“It started as just a dream,” Plank said. An open house was held Sunday to introduce residents of Rockford – a town of 500 residents in southeast Spokane County – to the center.

There is a reading space with books to borrow or keep. Couches to curl up with the books or to sit and watch a movie on the television. There is a foosball table and a ping-pong table, and soon there will be a pool table.

The group also has collected old computers they plan on fixing up and offering for use at the center. They received a donation of free Internet service from a local provider and hope to hold classes in which the youth of Rockford teach the older generation how to use the computers for e-mail and social networking.

“Facebook is awesome to see your grandkids,” Pope said.

Coming soon will be money management classes to help residents plan a budget and receive credit counseling.

The Rockford Community Center is just a piece of what the group has been setting up in the community.

They got involved with the Northwest Area Foundation and the Washington State University Extension in Spokane to get a $10,000 grant. In order to get it, the group had to take a series of classes, set up its 501(c)3 nonprofit tax status and complete three goals: community education, set up a community center, and start a community garden. So far, there are three community gardens in Rockford.

“We tilled up grass, we tilled up lawns,” Plank said.

They also started a farmers market in Rockford which is open Saturdays from August through Sept. 11 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The market features produce grown in the community gardens, arts and crafts, and a special coffee blend, Rockford Roast, which the group received from Roast House Coffee to sell. Each bag of coffee is $10 and the proceeds benefit the community center.

When the market closes for the day, Benson takes the leftover produce to local food banks.

“We’re always looking for new vendors,” Pope said. Vendors pay $10 for a spot at the market and show up at 8:30 a.m. to set up. The fee also benefits the community center.

Movie nights are held Thursday evenings in the park at dusk. The group held half-court basketball games for teens in the park.

Plank said they learned about a quote from Margaret Meade, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

“That’s what we live by,” Benson said.