Will ‘Cherish Our Children’ die of old age?

September 28, 2017 1:30 am
Bill Sperry presides over the live auction at the Cherish Our Children event December 2012. Photo Quileute Tribe
Bill Sperry presides over the live auction at the Cherish Our Children event December 2012. Photo Quileute Tribe

By Showandah Terrill

There we were at our first, small meeting to decide a course of action – sitting around discussing our desires for the program and wondering at our own personal decline, and then we realized that between the four elders at the meeting, we were 278 years old.

At that point we knew one of our main goals this year needs to be recruitment. Our hopes, our commitment have not dimmed, but our bodies, our partners, our energy … are failing. There were two young people at the meeting, but they cannot do it alone, nor should they be asked to do so. We need help or the program will die of old age. We need new committee members and fresh ideas.

Cherish Our Children is a partnership between the Quileute Tribe and the City of Forks with the goal of providing for those kids in our community who might otherwise not have a Christmas. The emphasis is on warm clothing and all kinds of fun educational materials – things to help a child be prepared for school while giving them a gift or two to open. This is a massive undertaking, and so far the tribe has shouldered most of the burden.

We need people from Forks to help out with publicity, gathering items for the auction, setting up for the auction, gathering foodstuffs and preparing the dinner for the auction, cleaning up after the auction, buying the gifts, and getting them properly distributed to those who actually deserve to receive them.

As of this writing, we have two major goals:

We need some organization to take over the kitchen as a fundraiser with twenty-five percent coming back to Cherish Our Children. Senior parents, are you out there? Holy Smokers? Somebody step up.

We need every organization, every church in our community to send two people to help out. Come on, it’s a few meetings and the hustle and bustle of the auction and gift distribution. You’re done by Christmas and we won’t bother you again until Labor Day.

How can you show the kids in your community that you care? Do your children benefit from the program? Then come and help make it a reality for them. Our first general meeting is at noon, Monday, Oct. 2, at Three Rivers Restaurant. Questions? Call Sharon Penn, at 374-3197.