CVH Wishing Tree Sign Up Begins October 16, 2023
This program is to help local children Christmas wishes come true!
Article by Dusti Howell
Pictured: Belinda Stockton The Wishing Tree is made up of three parts: Families that need help, Community members providing that help, and Wishing Tree committee that make it all come together.
For over 50 years now, CVH Foundation Emergency Fund Committee has helped to make children’s Christmas come true through one of its subcommittees, the “Wishing Tree” Non-Profit Charity Event. Belinda Stockton had always been a part of the committee in her 46 years at CVH and in 2000 she took it over with her right hand gal, Iola Plank. Both amazing women were the backbone of this project for the last 23 years. This spring we lost our beloved Belinda to cancer. In honor of her memory, years of hard work, dedication, and commitment, the new committee has been renamed the “Belinda Stockton Memorial Foundation Emergency Fund Committee (FEFC)”. We miss you, Belinda, and hope to make you proud by keeping your legacy going and continuing to make Christmas dreams come true!
The Wishing Tree is made up of three parts: families that need help, community members providing that help, and Wishing Tree committee members that make it all come together.
The CVH Wishing Tree committee will start accepting applications on October 16th, 2023. Only custodial parents or guardians of children can submit applications for children 12 years and younger, and must live within School District 171.
Applicants can request an application three ways, email [email protected], mail a request “Attn: Wishing Tree” to 301 Cedar, Orofino ID 83544, or pick one up at Orofino Clinic, 1055 Riverside Ave., Orofino. There will be a designated cabinet in the Orofino Clinic lobby with the applications in it and a slot to return them into. All applications MUST be received by deadline of November 6th, 2023. Applicants are kept anonymous so only a few of the committee members will be collecting the information from these designated areas.
For our wonderful, caring, and generous community members (aka Secret Santa’s) , the “Wishing Tree” will be set up at the Orofino Clinic on November 1st and decorated with “Stars”, each of these “Stars” represents a child in need. Our goal is to have all “Stars” taken by November 10th. To achieve this deadline, we are offering a few options this year for getting your “Star/s:”
1. Come to Orofino Clinic and pick a “Star/s” off the tree:
a. There is a sign out sheet next to the tree, so please list what stars you picked, your name and a phone number you can be reached at.
2. Email [email protected] and we can send you a Star/s
3. “Adopt” a whole family, just let us know size of family, and we will pick one out for you!
We ask that all the Secret Santas who take a “Star” have the gifts wrapped, ready with the “Star” as the gift tag on them, and returned to OHC by December 8th. This gives the committee team time to shop for the “Stars” that are left, ones not returned, and supplement shop (Many times one child in the family is lavished with gifts so the team “evens out” the wants and needs for the remaining children in the family. If little Annie was to get all her gifts and little Andy only got one, that would not be a happy Christmas morning.) Our goal is to have all gifts picked up December 11th.
Applicants, if for some reason you have not heard from us by December 11th please call 208-476-8033 or email [email protected]. This is a busy time and we’d hate to miss anyone for any reason.
Pictured above: Belinda Stockton, Kennedy Howell, and Iola Plank. Howell’s senior project was a fundraiser that raised money for the Wishing Tree in 2019. Just one of the ways the Wishing Tree Team is able to keep this event going. For those who wish to make a donation, checks can be made out and mailed to: CVH Foundation Wishing Tree 301 Cedar Ave, Orofino ID 83544
We love for people to take “Stars” but understand not everyone has time or can. We accept and really do rely on cash donations for the purchase of supplement shopping and for “Stars” that were not taken or never returned. If you take a “Star” and cannot provide for it, please return it to the tree, no questions asked.
For those who wish to make a donation, checks can be made out and mailed to: CVH Foundation Wishing Tree, 301 Cedar Ave, Orofino, ID 83544.
The Wishing Tree averages 100 or more children during the holiday season and we find that with the unstable economic times this number seems to continue to rise. Every “Star” represents a child in need. The Belinda Stockton Memorial FEFC Wishing Tree team thanks you for your support at this special time of year!