Say “Girl Scouts” and people are likely to answer with “cookies, camp and crafts.” Everyone wants their Samoas or Thin Mints when cookie time comes around, and most organizations would be proud to have created a fundraiser that’s become an American institution. Yet cookie profits are not quite enough to pay for all the Girl Scout programs, so the Girl Scouts of Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho are now launching a $1.3 million fundraising campaign to reach the final goal of $2 million.

A nonprofit ice arena in Coeur d’Alene that has been rebuilding since a 2008 roof collapse received a major boost Thursday when Frontier Communications announced a seven-year, $175,000 contribution. As a result, the Kootenai Youth Recreation Organization ice arena on West Seltice Way will be renamed Frontier Ice Arena. The Fortune 500 company provides communication services in rural America and acquired much of Verizon’s landline operations in 2010. The agreement calls for the company to donate $25,000 per year for seven years, Daniel McCarthy, Frontier’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, announced at a Thursday news conference.

Every year in July, the North Idaho College Foundation holds its largest fundraiser. Only 5,000 tickets are sold for the Really BIG Raffle, at $100 apiece. The grand prize is a $250,000 home built by, and as a showcase for, the college’s carpentry program. Other prizes include a $20,000 car, a $10,000 boat, a $3,500 vacation and a $2,000 shopping spree. In addition to supporting the carpentry program, the raffle, now in its 18th year, has raised money for scholarships and provided grants for numerous college programs as varied as athletics, human resources and nursing. This year’s drawing will be held July 13.

For the past 12 years, David and Lisa Barth, of Sandpoint, have cocooned around their small family, maxed out with the day-to-day challenge and joy of raising an autistic son. But now they’ve been inspired to use their experience to raise awareness about autism in this region. A connection with a group of Sandpoint bicyclists taking on one of the country’s biggest endurance challenges in the name of autism has provided that opportunity.

SEATTLE – Washington State University is getting a $26 million donation from its richest dropout, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the school said Thursday. The gift for the university’s School for Global Animal Health was approved by the university’s Board of Regents on Thursday. The university webcast a news conference and broadcast it at WSU’s satellites campuses throughout the state to formally announce Allen’s gift and begin a $1 billion fundraising campaign, the largest in school history and the first since 1997.

Fundraising in a flaccid economy is a challenge. Even established nonprofit organizations are struggling because people hold on to their change and cut back on charity as their paychecks shrink. So when a young woman sets out to raise funds for a return trip to volunteer at a poor, rural hospital in the African nation of Chad, what is she to do?

It’s a place to reflect on the sacrifices of others, where fallen heroes will be remembered and future generations will gather to learn under a promise to “never forget.” Yet, among the sobering monuments at the Fallen Heroes Plaza in Coeur d’Alene – the names of the fallen service members etched in granite, the twin basalt towers and 9/11 artifact given to the Lake City Fire Department – there will be the sound of laughter and children playing only feet away.

The Cheney Historical Museum has been keeping the history of Cheney, Four Lakes, Marshall, Tyler and Amber alive for years. The people, schools and some incorporated towns have come and gone, but residents can remember when they visit the museum. That all changed on Jan. 6, when the Wren Pierson Building in Cheney was deemed unsafe because of heavy snows last winter. Although the museum’s part of the building wasn’t damaged, the power was turned off and at the time, city officials weren’t sure what the extent of the damage would be. Everything in the museum had to be moved.