STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

100 Men Who Care will get a chance to fund school lunches for those who can’t afford them, wilderness trail work and more when the philanthropic group meets at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, at Ketchum’s Community Library.

Attendees will get to view a heartwarming video and then they’ll have the opportunity to listen to three pitches:

• The Blaine County Education Fund is seeking money for a new initiative called The School Meal Support Program. The program was started after the federal waiver that covered the cost of school meals for all schoolchildren during COVID was revoked. The program would offset the cost of a discounted meal for any student whose parents cannot afford to cover the cost. It would also provide funding for students who don’t qualify for a free or reduced meal but show need.

  The Blaine County School District received nearly 600 Federal Free and Reduced applications to offset the cost of school meals for children by the first day of school on Sept. 1. About 230 of those students qualified, but the school district has identified 120 additional students who did not qualify for either but who still struggle to afford breakfast and lunch. It’s estimated that it costs $500 per student for a year’s worth of school lunches.

• The Pulaski Users Group (PUG) organizes volunteer trips to maintain and reclaim backcountry wilderness trails. A five-day backcountry hitch costs an average of $4,665 to cover transportation costs, maintain tools and pay crew leaders, but the contribution back to the land in in-kind labor is nearly three-fold, said Lexi Carey, who oversees the group.
• The non-profit Sun Valley Ballet Foundation wants to restart the Sun Valley Ballet School, which was shuttered a few years ago. Before it was shuttered, the school engaged between 120 and 140 dance students who participated in up to four different classes each week. The Foundation wants to provide high-level instruction and performance opportunities with affordable tuition, small class sizes and scholarships for students who need financial assistance to participate.

100 Men Who Care met at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden during their July meeting. There, they nibbled on hors d’oeuvres provided by Sun Valley Culinary Institute, an earlier recipient of their generosity. And they got a preview of “The Last Five Years” musical, courtesy of the show’s stars Chris Carwithen and Tess Makena of The Liberty Theatre.

The theater was the beneficiary of an April donation from 100 Men Who Care, who made donations to the Relight the Liberty campaign to refurbish Hailey’s Liberty Theatre so it can reopen for theater and other events.

The men gave away $17,900 at the last meeting in July. They gave $8,634 to Men’s Second Chance Living to help furnish a second home in Hailey to support men in recovery from substance abuse. They gave  $4,300 to Rotarun Ski Area and the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation for its program introducing youngsters to the skiing who might not otherwise have the means to ski.

And they gave $4,066 to the Wood River Trails Coalition, which clears local hiking and biking trails of downed trees and stinging nettle and repairs water drainages.

100 Men Who Care has given away $368,625 to local nonprofits since its first meeting 10 years ago.

Those who cannot attend Tuesday’s meeting but would like to support one or more of the three organizations may write out their check or checks for $100 or more to the organization(S) of their choice and mail those checks to Marty Lyon, 106 Red Cloud Way, Hailey, ID 83333.

Questions? Call Lyon at 253-209-4586.