Provide opportunity for community children

“Go Allee, go!” “Go Allee, go!” The older lady next to me cheered all evening. It was the 5A District track meet in Boise last year. After Allee crossed the finish line in first place for a third time I asked the kind lady next to me if she was related, “Yes, that’s my granddaughter,” she replied proudly. “She’s pretty fast,” I said - the understatement of the day.

“Does her speed run in the family?” I asked.  “Her mother was a champion as well,” she said.  “What about you?” I asked.  “Well, I was quite fast as well, but I just got to run to the store from our farm in North Dakota – girls weren’t allowed to play sports until three years after I graduated high school,” she reminisced.

Allee would go on to the state track meet and earn four gold medals and lead her team to the state title because she was provided something her grandmother was not – an opportunity.

For less than $3.50 per month we can provide similar opportunities for the kids in our community. An opportunity to play football under the Friday night lights, participate in Future Farmers of America, cheer and dance at Moose Madness, cut down the nets in route to the state basketball tournament, sing in the choir, land a lead role in a play, or run at the state track meet like Allee, – the opportunities are endless. 

Unfortunately, the opportunities end if we forget that someone once footed the bill for us.  The supplemental levy is about providing opportunity for kids – the same kind of opportunity we were provided. For a little more than 10 cents a day, it’s a bill we can afford.

Pat Behrens

Bonners Ferry