Feeling the love

COEUR d'ALENE — A nonprofit that helps hospitality workers in need is feeling the love.

CDAIDE's Care Affair, attended by nearly 250 people Thursday at The Coeur d'Alene Resort, brought in $63,295.

Funds will provide financial support and resources for servers, cooks, housekeepers and more when they find themselves in times of crisis, such as when they are without health insurance or other safety nets and are unable to pay for basic needs like rent, utilities, groceries and car repairs.

"It's always great to see the community rally together to support their neighbors," CDAIDE Executive Director Jason Nye said Monday.

Nye said he got a little emotional that night.

"It's challenging to work each day hearing the stories of heartbreak and struggle that are happening right here in town," he said. "Then you have an event like the Care Affair or Chef Challenge and see the outpouring of support from so many members of this wonderful community and it's hard not to get choked up."

He said the 2024 Care Affair was particularly important after the cold winter North Idaho experienced.

"There was a lot of need through those chilly months and CDAIDE's resources were stretched thin," he said. "We had people with burst pipes and increased heating costs in addition to all the 'normal' financial pressures everyone is facing now with inflation and the steep cost of housing in Coeur d'Alene."

CDAIDE helped 253 local hospitality workers in 2023 with gifts averaging $1,300. Its record Care Affair was in 2022, when attendees gave $84,338. 

"The funds raised will change lives," Nye said. "I wish I could share the feeling I get every time a hospitality worker comes up to me with tears in their eyes to tell me how CDAIDE impacted them and their family."

In the end, he said, it all comes down to love.

"Do we as a community, city, region, care enough about each other to make sure programs exist so that no one slips through the cracks? And do we continue to support and drive those programs?" Nye asked. 

"There are a lot of people in the Coeur d'Alene region who care," he continued. "There are a lot of people here that love. I'm just thankful to be part of a community where loving your neighbors is still valued."

Info: cdaide.org

    Danielle Josephson of Seasons of Coeur d'Alene tops cilantro onto fresh fried tortillas with watermelon shrimp ceviche Thursday at the Care Affair.