Adena Lunders, presenting a gift to one of the children at Northwest Children’s Homes in Lewiston. Photo by Sgt. Greg Heun
Warming the winter is its own reward
By Sgt. Greg Heun
The staff from the Idaho Correctional Institution – Orofino (ICIO) and the North Idaho Correctional Institution (NICI) at Cottonwood, presented a cash donation and gifts to the Northwest Children’s Homes in Lewiston Dec. 18. The cash donation came from staff and offenders at both institutions as well as the gifts being purchased by staff or made by offenders.
One of the coordinators of the event, Sergeant Brenda Layne, said “It was the most rewarding thing that has happened in my life for a long time.” She explained that IDOC staff and offenders wanted to tell the children, ‘We care about who they are today and who they will become tomorrow. At times in their lives when they are down and feel they are all alone they could reach out to the members of this group for help and encouragement."
Sgt Layne also added that some of the offenders who made the beautiful gifts for the children will never be able to be in a room like we are today. “They will never get out from behind our walls. But they want to tell the children to stay warm and be wise about the decisions they make as they grow into adulthood.”
At the Jewett house for girls, they were a little more reserved at first. You could see the hurt and anger in some of them. Seeing us in uniform had its emotional effects for sure. Once they heard our message and received their gifts they were like children once again, happy and thankful for their presents. They especially loved the little crocheted animals the offenders made.
The next stop was the Quest home where the boys were younger and had more attention deficit issues so they kept it short and sweet. All the boys loved their gifts as well. They proudly modeled their hats, scarves and gloves. One of them got a crocheted blanket and snuggled right up in it. “Precious” is how I describe that.
The last house (Vision) was the one that brought both staff and offenders to tears. They were waiting for some of the little boys to come back from school. In the interim, Director Nelson asked the boys to introduce themselves. When they did, each one came up to the group and one by one, shook hands and told their names.
One of the boys stood in front and recited their 52 virtues from memory. The virtues are the character traits they are learning to live by such as honesty, integrity, friendliness etc, etc. Everyone applauded his performance. He is now memorizing the definitions to each one. Simply amazing!
When that ended the Director asked them as a group to tell what they liked about the house they were living in. One boy said, "I like it here because it is a lot better than some of the other places I've been". Another boy said "I like it here because they don't abuse us." That is when some of the group from ICI-O and NICI realized the importance of what they were doing. Tears came to most all of them at that moment. The rewards came pouring out in little drops of water as they wound down our long day.
After the presentation the prison staff gave a gift bag to Rita, as she was soon to give birth. They gave her a donated teddy bear, a baby hat and scarf and a beautiful new pillowcase for her baby. She was instrumental in helping prison staff put this together.
In addition to all the gifts, each child received a $5 gift card to Wal-Mart. The donation was made by PSRS Wendy Gebhart. The children will get to spend them when they progress to the point of going out shopping. For some of the children it is based on performance and time in their programs. The total amount of money raised including the gift cards was just under $1000. WOW!
Overall, I can say with all honesty it was a huge success. Not one of us left there feeling anything but thankful for one another, our staff, the offenders, and our family blessings. I thank God for allowing us to be a part of their world this year. I can't wait for next year.