Ruth’s House shelter needs a new supply fruit snacks and cereal for the families that stay there. You can drop them off at our office between the hours of 12 – 5 on Mon – Thurs. Thank you for your generous support!
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Thank you CAL!
THANK YOU Community Assistance League for your generous grant to Priest River Ministries for $5000! We are thankful for your continued support of our shelter program. We promise to honor God in our actions and care for the families in need our community.
New Office Hours
Starting this week, April 29- May 3rd, the office is open:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 12-5pm
We are closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Crisis line available 24/7
Priest River Distinguished Young Women
We were highly honored by the Distinguished Young Women’s contestants and their organization on Friday night’s finale and crowning. We were privileged to learn how these girl’s felt about PRMAFW and the work we do, in essays they wrote regarding our presentation to them at the dinner they gave us in March. . We are proud of them all and the hard work they do for our community and themselves. Becoming the best they could be was their goal and we would say they accomplished that well. Good Job Ladies! And congratulations to Abrianna Thompson, our newly crowned Distinguished Young Woman!
The New Ruth’s House
With a grant from the Inland Northwest Community Foundation, we were able to make Ruth’s House fully handicap accessible. We’ve taken some updated pictures of the shelter for our blog, seen below.
Pay it Foward Project!
Take a look at one of our new ministry projects in the details below:
Pay it Forward Fundraiser!
Who:
Priest River Ministries Advocates for Women (PRMAFW) partnering with Bright Star Philanthropy Partners and the Association of Farmers for the Social Development of the Maya Ixil, Guatemala. Technical advice is provided by the Full Belly Project.
What:
50% of the Pay it Forward Fundraiser proceeds will benefit PRMAFW general operating needs.
50% of the Pay it Forward Fundraiser proceeds will support the purchase of start-up equipment or three farming families in the remote mountains of Guatemala. These families are sponsored by the Association of Farmers for the Social Development of the Maya Ixil, Guetemala. Hand crank coffee bean mill equipment will be purchased for the three families. Each family will start their own coffee bean milling business. The coffee mill removes the skin on each coffee bean (like the thin skin on a peanut.) Currently the families are peeling each coffee bean by hand.
Tell us about the families in Guatemala
The three families live in different villages in a very remote part of the mountains in northern Guatemala in an area around Chajul. Wikipedia describes the area like this:
The Ixil region is isolated by beautiful mountains and has maintained its rich Ixil Mayan traditions and language. Having been at the heart of the 26-year civil way, Chajul experiences post-war challenges such as emotional trauma, land displacement, and fragmented families. Additionally, unemployment is high, large families live in one-room adobe houses with open cooking fires, opportunities for women are scarce, and family-and gender-based violence are common. The community has a corn-based agricultural economy in which adults struggle daily to feed their families and the average income is $1-3 per day. A 2002 study revealed that less than 1% of children graduate from high school (5% from middle school) as they are forced to leave school at a young age to help support the family household, leaving 75% of the adult population illiterate. Chajul further suffers from common preventable health concerns, such a respiratory illness, intestinal disease, tuberculosis, malnutrition, and death during childbirth. Eight perfect of the Chajul population lives in poverty.
How does Pay it Forward work?
Bright Star Philanthropy Partners donated a sewing machine, a duffel bag of accessories, and cash to provide a widow and her daughter-in-law the startup equipment and supplies for the Women’s Sewing Business in Chajul, Guatemala. Although excellent weavers, without a sewing machine, they could only make and sell flat cloth made on a backstrap loom. Their pay for 8 hours of work could range from 50 cents to $1.00 per day. With the sewing machine, they are now able to make blouses, children’s clothing, vests and jackets. They are making enough profit to contribute to family basic needs.
Bright Star Philanthropy Partners purchased some of their crafts, as well as crafts from other villagers. This purchase gave The Sewing Women cash to buy thread and materials for their next projects, which they will sell in the local markets. They are entrepreneurs on their way to a sustainable small business to feed and educate their children.
The Sewing Woman Pay it Forward to PRMAFW for operating expenses and the Association of Farmers for the Social Development of the Maya Ixil, to sponsor three families to start new Hand Crank Coffee Mill businesses.
The box of handmade crafts from the Sewing Women in Chajul has arrived in North Idaho. Bright Star Philanthropy Partners is donating them to PRMAFW for the Pay it Forward Fundraiser. 50% of the proceeds from the funraiser will Pay it Forward to Priest River Ministries Advocates for Women for general operating expenses. 50% of the proceeds from the fundraiser will Pay it Forward to fund the equipment for three families to start their own small business using a hand crank coffee bean mill.
This stand is now set up in our local Priest River office, showcasing the beautiful, handmade items from ladies in Guatemala.
Each item is a one of a kind piece hand sewn in Guatemala. Once their target goal is reached, (after selling all the items currently in our office) they will start producing coffee and send us the beans to sell also. Yum! Get ready for some delicious coffee. Stop by our office and purchase some of the items so we can get that going!
Friendship bracelets, necklaces, earrings…
Come by and find the perfect gift for a birthday, a friend, or yourself!
A sweet dress, perfect for a sweet little girl you know!
100% silk scarves in a variety of colors.
Does Bright Star Philanthropy Partners provide loans or grants?
The simple answer is “no.” BSPP’s extensive international and non-profit work has convinced them that the road to economic sustainability lies with the provision of the tools of the trade and education in how to use them. Micro loans work well in some situations. But in Guatemala we are working with the very poor who may be illiterate and the malnutrition rate for children is 75% to 92%. The families we work with are hard workers. They will break the cycle of deep poverty and achieve success if they just have the tools to work with. It is the parable of giving the person a fishing pole, and teaching them how to fish. They will be able to feed their families, and have enough left over to make another pole to start another family on to sustainability.
The background story:
Bright Star Grant Consultants formed a new program, Bright Star Philanthropy Partners, in 2012. It had become evident through Bright Star’s work that many non-profits were feeling the pressure of increased demand on their program services while experiencing competition for funding from other non-profits.
The mission of Bright Star Philanthropy Partners is to provide leadership and knowledge that facilitates connections among organizations and results in the realization of shared goals. We’re passionate about improving the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest and internationally by providing leadership to organizations seeking to strengthen their education, economic development and cultural programs in creative and sustainable ways. We work collaboratively to provide effective organization, project and fund development, capacity building, and training. Bright Star Philanthropy Partners is registered with the Idaho Secretary of State, USA. It is a program of Bright Star Grant Consultants, Inc. Find out more at our website. www.brightstarconsultants.com
Janet Bourque lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and is Vice President of Bright Star Grant Consultants. January of 2011, Janet volunteered in Guatemala to teach conversational English to Mayan University students. The Association of Farmers for the Social Development of the Maya Ixil, Guatemala is in development. It is organized by one of Janet Bourque’s former Maya University students with support from Bright Star Philanthropy Partners. Their mission is economic, education and social services for Maya Ixil farmers, widows, women and children.
The Full Belly Project is providing technical advice regarding providing the best coffee mill for the on-site situation. http://www.thefullbellyproject.org/Products/UniversalNutSheller.aspx
Contact:
Janet Bourque
208-964-0402
brightstargrants2@yahoo.com
Toy Drive for PRMAFW
Please consider donating any gently used or new toys to this cause! Our little kids need some. 
Thank you for your loving donations!
Distinguished Young Women of Priest River dinner
The Distinguished Young Women’s organization honored PRMAFW’s volunteers on the 26th this month with a dinner and many supplies. One of our young women gave her testimony of how she overcame a life of violence and control with the help of PRMAFW and her own determination. It was an emotionally moving evening. Thank you to the Distinguished Young Women and their families and coaches. It was an honor for us to meet all of you and thank you for choosing to help other young women who are not as fortunate as you. You are a blessing to our community!
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2nd annual Celebrate Family Fun Run is coming to an area near Priest River, Idaho SOON!
http://www.celebratefamilyfunrun.com/
Registration is now open for our 2nd annual Celebrate Family Fun Run. Head on over to the link above for more details, to register online and to check out some snapshots from last year’s run. This is a family oriented run, with either 5k or 1 mile to choose from The funds raised will go to benefit Priest River Ministries Advocates for Women!
Just a tease of the beautiful scenery you’ll experience on the route.
Ruth’s House becomes handicap accessible!
Take a look below to see the outstanding progress we’ve made on Ruth’s House!
It is now fully handicap accessible!
Building the backyard ramp!
The new walls!
Mudded and taped!
Now let’s see some of the finished project.
The backyard ramp!
New bathroom bars.
We’ll be posting some more updated pictures soon!
Thank you all for your wonderful support to our shelters. This is what your donations do!
Continue reading Ruth’s House becomes handicap accessible! »