BY KAREN BOSSICK
100 Men Who Care are getting social.
They will follow Tuesday’s brief meeting with snacks and beverages around which they hope to spend some time getting to know one another. And a tour of the garden will be arranged for those who are interested.
The quarterly meeting of the grassroots philanthropic organization will be held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 11, at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden.
Those in attendance are invited to nominate a nonprofit that they think could use the funds this time around. Those who are present will then vote on one to be the beneficiary of the $100 checks they collectively pool.
Those who can’t attend can send their check to $100 to Marty Lyon, 106 Red Cloud Way, Hailey, ID 83333.
100 Me Who Care has given cash gifts of $90,350 to 18 non-profits in the Wood River Valley since its first meeting in February 2013.
The guys presented $7,600 to the Blaine County Education Fund at their last meeting. The money enabled physical education teachers Brandeis Coshow and Kelsey Buchanan to lead 21 Wood River Middle School students to City of Rocks to acquaint them with Idaho’s great outdoors.
The students danced in the fog around the campfire to the strobe lights of their headlamps. They played limbo with a laser spotter, told stories in their tents into the wee hours of the morning and they took turns cooking and cleaning up mishaps. One student who was fearful of heights fell on her first climb. But after wiping her tears she continued to try climbing a rock face that attracts climbers from around the world until she finally climbed the entire wall.
Her reaction? She danced and screamed, then leaned over the edge of the wall with just her rope as support to keep her from failing to make sure her fellow students knew of her success.
“Her confidence was catching,” said Coshow.
Even more revealing, Coshow said, was how calm and serene the youngsters were without cell phones in hand.
“Most didn’t realize until they got back into reception range how negative being connected and feeling the need to respond to texts and emails made them feel. Some even groaned and complained while reading messages. Several said they were going to disconnect for several hours a day,” Coshow said.