Food charity teeing up for fund-raising drive
The homeless children at the Saturday afternoon soup kitchen tugged at Kyle Rutley’s heart, so he decided to go golfing.
Believe it or not, social workers who help the homeless and hungry wish people would follow Rutley’s example.
Rutley, 15, didn’t golf to forget. A dedicated duffer, he organized a golf tournament to raise money for the soup kitchen, Cherished Ones Ministries.
“I wanted to do something for the kids I saw,” Rutley said. “I was selling golf balls to raise money for them. A golf tournament seemed the next step.”
Rutley is a good example of what people in every community should do, particularly now that President Bush has proposed a budget that includes nothing for community action programs that run food banks and other services for struggling people, said Lisa Stoddard, executive director of the Community Action Partnership in Idaho’s 10 northern counties.
“We all have a responsibility to end poverty,” Stoddard said. “We can’t rely on the federal government. Everyone can contribute.”
Stoddard has watched the need for food increase steadily in the last few years.
“We know more people are struggling to meet basic needs,” she said.
Community Action Partnership’s food bank in Kootenai County fed 11,471 different people in 2004, and some of those people returned for food many times, said Mark Haberman, food bank manager. In 2001, food was given out to 7,200 people in Kootenai County. In most years, 5 to 10 percent of those people are homeless, Haberman said.
Church parishioners saw the need and began soup kitchens years ago to help. In the last few years, enough soup kitchens have opened in Kootenai County that hungry people can find a meal every day of the week, if they have transportation. Most of the kitchens cook for 50 to 60 people.
Thom and Padma Rutley and their son Kyle were among the founders of Cherished Ones Ministries four years ago. The group organized to feed the hungry in the community, said organization director Kevin Kram. Cherished Ones began with a weekly soup kitchen – they filled the Saturday slot – and last year added a sack lunch program for people in temporary labor programs.
Kyle Rutley was 12 and already in love with golf when he saw an opportunity to raise money for the kids he saw at the soup kitchen. He collected and cleaned used golf balls and sold them for 25 cents each. He found five businesses willing to display baskets filled with balls and collect money from buyers. Rutley turned over the money to Kram.
“I thought, ‘Cool, maybe $100 or $200 a year,’ ” Kram said. “It’s been thousands.”
In three years, Rutley’s golf ball enterprise has raised $4,500. Cherished Ones has used the money to buy school supplies and clothes for children who eat at the soup kitchen. The group also spends money on kids in poor families at Christmas.
A golf tournament was the next step, Rutley said Wednesday. The Coeur d’Alene Public Golf Course gave him a good deal, so Rutley leased the course for five hours on May 28. Participants will pay $50 to play 18 holes and vie for prizes. Half the money will pay for the course. The other half will go to the soup kitchen, Rutley said.
He hopes for 72 golfers. Already, 38 are signed up. Rutley dreams the tournament will raise $3,000 and a generous sponsor will match the amount. That would mean $4,500 for the soup kitchen after a $1,500 payment to the golf course.
Rutley has specified that the money raised will help the children who eat at the soup kitchen. But Cherished Ones itself could use a benefactor. The organization is homeless and moves its meals from park to park, carrying its tables, barbecues and food in a trailer. It’ll serve dinner this Saturday at McEuen Field, 3:30 to 5 p.m. Still, Kram has no intention of trying to change Rutley’s focus.
“When you have a 12-year-old kid who comes up with an idea and carries it out for years and works diligently, it’s an encouragement to all of us,” Kram said.
For information or to register for the May 28 golf tournament, call Kyle Rutley at 665-9230.