In a state notorious for its suspicion of top-down mandates, the conservation approach taken by the Land Trust blends enlightened self-interest on the part of local landowners and developers with a general love of land and recreation that permeates the consciousness of most Idahoans, red and blue-blooded alike.

I’ve resided in Boise for more than 15 years now, and whenever people ask me what it’s like to live in this town, my litany of “quality of life” attributes always includes some variation on the theme, “I can walk out my door and in five minutes be strolling along the Boise River Greenbelt.”

There’s no denying that for most of us who live in the City of Trees, access to open space is part of what keeps us here and happy — and one of the organizations we have to thank for our contentment is Land Trust of Treasure Valley (Land Trust), a local non-profit that since 1986 has worked “to conserve nature close to home.”

“Predictions suggest that our population could increase to nearly 1 million people in the next 25 years, doubling our current population,” states the Land Trust in a pamphlet describing the organization’s mission.  “As the valley fills with development, open spaces will become even more important.”

In a state notorious for its suspicion of top-down mandates, the conservation approach taken by Land Trust blends enlightened self-interest on the part of local landowners and developers with a general love of land and recreation that permeates the consciousness of most Idahoans, red and blue-blooded alike.

“Our essential approach is to cooperate with private landowners to set aside land for people and wildlife,” says Tim Breuer, the executive director of Land Trust of Treasure Valley.  “The properties remain the possession of the landowner, but we hold easements that restrict development on the parcels in order to protect them from development.”

While Land Trust’s conservation scheme includes a mechanism by which property owners can recoup some of their losses through tax deductions if an easement adversely affects property value, Tim notes that the prevailing incentive among the landowners his organization works with is simply their love of the land, and their desire to create open space legacies for their community.

With approximately 350 acres of land so far set aside as open spaces, the following goals comprise the conservation vision of Land Trust for the Treasure Valley:

• Open space and outdoor recreation within 10 minutes from home.
• Preserving the Boise River as a ribbon of natural areas for habitat, flood protection, and access for fishing and floating all the way to the Snake River.  ”The clean water and network of pathways makes the Lower Boise River the crown jewel of the Treasure Valley.”
• Creation of an interconnected network of open spaces and trails throughout the foothills that links people and neighborhoods with the land.
• Ensuring that critical big game winter range exists to assure healthy herds of deer and elk.

Land Trust Executive Director, Tim Breuer

In December 2010, Breuer and his organization unveiled their most ambitious project to date: the Harrison Hollow Campaign.  Harrison Hollow represents 58 acres of natural open land with trails, nature and wildlife used by cyclists, hikers, and dog walkers on a daily basis.  The Land Trust is raising the $580,000 needed to buy and conserve it for generations to come.

Near Bogus Basis and Hill Roads, directly behind Healthwise Corporation, Harrison Hollow lies adjacent to another 250 acres of privately-owned open space known as Hillside to the Hollow.  It is one of a string of natural areas in the lower foothills, including Hulls Gulch/Camel’s Back Park and Polecat Gulch Reserve, located near thousands of Boise residents.

In launching its campaign to acquire the Harrison Hollow acreage, the Land Trust of Treasure Valley has joined forces with the Hillside to Hollow Coalition, Healthwise Corporation, J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation, North End Neighborhood Association, and Southwest Idaho Mountain Biking Association (SWIMBA).

“This is the first time in 50 years that the Harrison Hollow property has been on the market,” says Tim.  “Unless we can step up and purchase it, it is likely to be developed – and that would take away the heart and soul of what that area means to the people of Boise.”

Boise Co-op’s Shop for Good on December 15, 2011, has the potential to bring the realization of Land Trust’s Harrison Hollow goal to well within its grasp, thanks to the patronage of Co-op customers.  As with every Shop for Good event, 4% of purchases at our store and Wine Shop will be donated to Land Trust of Treasure Valley.  Considering the success we’ve had on behalf of so many local non-profit organizations, there is a very real possibility that by the end of day on the 15th, Land Trust could be within $2,000 of the remaining funding needed to purchase its Harrison Hollow acreage.  Our suggestion?  Buy plenty of good wine along with your other grocery list items this Thursday.  It will come in handy when we toast the addition of a new open space jewel.

Click here for a YouTube interview with Tim Breuer

It’s the one day on the calendar that wine lovers and cheese lovers are both certain to circle –  it’s the Boise Co-op Annual Big Wine & Cheese Sale & Holiday Tasting Extravaganza (whew!), taking place Sunday, December 4 from 11 am to 5 pm at our Wine Shop and store.

How big IS this sale, you ask?  Well, let me begin to answer that question by saying that whatever else you have going on this December 4, it probably isn’t as important as what’s happening at the corner of 9th and Fort in downtown Boise.

What do we have in store for you?  Let’s start with our cheeses — all of which are 20% off their normal price.  At our Deli Cheese Island, Jane the Cheese Lady has been frantically pulling together an array of foreign and domestic delights that would take far longer to elaborate than we have space for in this blog.  Here are a few of the highlights, however:

• From Willapa Dairy, we are thrilled to be hosting the Idaho premier of their Big Boy Blue, Little Boy Blue (come blow your horn!), and Pluvious.
• Du Village’s Lady Laurier, Sir Laurier, and Moon Dust
• Somderdale’s Red Dragon, Westminster, Cotswold, Huntsman, and Mango Ginger Stilton
• Sartori’s Gold Bellavintano, Raspberry, and Rosemary Olive Oil cheeses
• Champignon’s Black Label Cambazola, Champignon Mushroom, and Rougette
• A variety of spreadables, including President brie with fig, Rising Sun Tortas (cranberry, gorgonzola, marionberry, and tomato), garlic and cranberry roule, and Boursin spreads.

Along with cheese, Jane and her crew will showcase many of the non-dairy delights from our Cheese Island, including jumbo black and Cerignola green olives, Cipoline onions, and the ever popular peppadews.

Across the parking lot, our Co-op Wine Store crew will be playing host to more than a dozen distributors, each of whom will be pouring between eight and ten wines — which if you do the math comes out to…well, a lot of wine.  We’ll be offering cheese pairings as well, with the opportunity to save yourself a trip back across the lot if you’d like to purchase your cheeses on the spot.  You’ll risk hurting Jane’s feelings, of course, but what’s to be done if you’re in a hurry?

If you need more compelling reasons to show up on Sunday, we could add achieving world peace in our lifetimes.  That may seem like hyperbole, but don’t you think the world would be a better place if we could all sit down together to some excellent wine and cheese?

The Co-op Quilt will be on display at the Boise Co-op through December!

In the spring of 1997, Ann Hoyt, a director of the Urban Cooperative Initiative in Madison, Wisconsin, was searching for something to auction as a fundraiser for the Howard Bowers Education Fund (which supports education for co-op managers through scholarships to the Consumer Cooperative Management Association Conference). A friend suggested she make a quilt out of the many co-op logo T-shirts she’d collected from her travels around the country, and a new tradition was born.

Ann called upon her friends Anne Hopkins (a quilter who manages Good Food Co-op in Lexington, Kentucky) and Anya Firszt (General Manager of Willy St. Co-op in Madison) and the three women spent four days creating the quilt. It was then finished by Keiko Sakuma-Neubauer from Kokua Country Foods Co-op in Honolulu, who hemmed the binding and finished the quilt the night before that first fundraising auction in 1999.

Though the auctioning of the quilt was originally intended to be a one-time deal, it was quickly decided that instead of actually purchasing it, the winning bidder would earn the right to display the quilt in their store for one year, and it would then be “sold” again to perpetuate the scholarship-funding program. The idea spread to other regions, and currently there are three quilts making the rounds. So far, the Co-op quilt project has raised over $193,000 for the Bowers fund!

On Wednesday, November 2, Co-op shoppers will be able to make point-of-sale donations to support Boise’s only independent commercial-free radio station: Radio Boise.

I recently visited Jeff Abrams and Kevin Moran at Radio Boise (89,9 FM) to talk with them about their station’s current Radiothon. In particular, I wanted to ask them what role Radio Boise played in our community and why it was worth supporting. With the Boise Co-op hosting a fundraiser on Wednesday, November 2, during which our customers will have the opportunity to make a point-of-sale contribution to Boise’s only independent commercial free radio station, I wanted to share their answers to those questions with our customers.

It turns out that I got at least one of the answers before I even sat down with Jeff and Kevin. As I entered the station I noticed a twelve year-old boy being interviewed in the studio while his mom and dad waited in the wings. It just so happens that this young man is a DJ who is hosting a kid’s program on the station. It immediately struck me that the answer to the question “Why Radio Boise” was abundantly clear: It connects us.

Radio Boise has been airing its eclectic mix of musical and public affairs programming for the past six months now, but it has been years in the making. “Up to this point we haven’t asked the community for anything other than to listen and see if what we are bringing resonates with them,” says Jeff Abrams. “We’ve been getting a lot of great feedback and our model is now based on listener support.”

Jeff Abrams

In the midst of its first Radiothon, Radio Boise’s appeal to the community is straight forward: if you believe in what it’s doing, help support its next six months of doing it.

“Radio Boise is a resource that Boise has never had,” says Kevin Moran. It’s a point that is underscored on the station’s website homepage: “Boise was the largest area in the country without the indispensable community resource that is local, noncommercial radio.”

As a hybrid station that broadcasts local public affairs programming as well as music, 89.9 FM bases its relevance on a diverse format that reflects the community it broadcasts to by including as many in that community as possible. A quick look at its slate of volunteer DJs reveals the eclectic nature of Radio Boise’s programming week.

“Every DJ plays their own music,” says Jeff. “The common denominator is that they all have their own genre-specific knowledge and cull from their own resources.”

Radio Boise’s homepage also reflects two other aspects of the station’s mission:

♦ Radio Boise extends the impacts of local nonprofit groups by giving them free access for announcements about their events and services

♦ Radio Boise expects to be at the epicenter of a “mini-network” of community radio stations coming to the air soon in southern and central Idaho!

A day in the life

Another aspect of Radio Boise that its founders are rightfully proud of are the resources. “We have a beautiful space to accommodate local and touring bands that come to Boise to perform,” Jeff says. “We exist to serve localism, including not only artists but also non-profits who don’t get recognized. We can give them a forum to talk about their work and the services they offer. We are a hub for these connections and the authenticity they represent.”

If you’d like to support the hub that is 89.9 FM you can donate or pledge online at www.radioboise.org, call (208) 258-2072, or come out to the Boise Co-op on Wednesday, November 2 and add what you can to your grocery purchase. Jeff and Kevin would be quite pleased if you’d do all three, but they’re not greedy. They just want to keep the airwaves local.

Click here for a YouTube video interview with Jeff Abrams and Kevin Moran

As sad as the thought of stray dogs or cats may be for any animal lover, it’s hard to imagine a more pleasant transition from homelessness to home than the venue provided by Simply Cats. To refer to the facility as a “shelter” doesn’t begin to do it justice.

“People who love cats all know two things about them,” says Patty Cutler, the executive director of Simply Cats. “The first thing is that you don’t choose them – they choose you. The second thing is that cats are like potato chips – you can’t have just one.”

While Cutler’s latter observation might seem like wishful thinking when coming from a non-profit organization that provides the only cageless, no-kill feline adoption agency in Idaho, most feline companions of human persuasion will likely attest to its veracity. Less is “morose” if you truly love kitties – and if the more the hairier works for you, Simply Cats – Boise Co-op’s Shop for Good recipient for October – will be happy to share the love.

Simply Cats began its mission (“…to care for, protect, and find quality homes for the cats entrusted to us; to reduce cat overpopulation through spaying and neutering; and to provide educational community outreach programs promoting the humane treatment of all animals.”) as Just Strays Animal Foundation in the late 1980s. Starting with just six cats in a one-room office, the organization has come a long way by any metric you’d care to apply: number of cats sheltered, size of facility, and volunteer base.

In the early 2000s, Just Strays changed its name to Simply Cats, and through the generosity of several of its founders/donors it moved from a small warehouse building at Cloverdale and Franklin to its current facility on S. Victory View Way in 2007.

As sad as the thought of stray dogs or cats may be for any animal lover, it’s hard to imagine a more pleasant transition from homelessness to home than the venue provided by Simply Cats. To refer to the facility as a “shelter” doesn’t begin to do it justice. Ringing its spacious, airy interior are “adoption rooms” that offer contained indoor/outdoor spaces where up to 10 cats per room are free to lounge and play on a variety of hammocks and climbing structures.

The facility also includes a quarantine area and isolation room for cats with respiratory issues, and holding and exam rooms to process new cats entering the adoption center. The facility’s medical director, based in Emmett, visits the center on a weekly basis, and cats needing additional attention make the trip in reverse once a week as well. At the time of this writing, Just Cats was housing 80 adoptable felines with a capacity of up to 120. Adoption fees are $75 for kittens, $65 for adult cats, and $50 for seniors. Simply Cats also offers periodic special discounts that make pet ownership even more afforable.

One of the most unique aspects of Simply Cats is its Meet Your Match (MYM) program, which was developed by the ASPCA. Meet Your Match is a feline personality (or “feline-ality”as Simply Cats describes it) assessment that evaluates incoming kitties on the basis of nine different personality traits divided into three broader, color-coded sociability categories designed to match an adopter’s animal companion preferences with the cat most likely to fit them.

One example of the MYM personality types is the “MVP”:

I’m a savvy cat who knows the score. I’m pretty unflappable, too. I don’t mind entertaining myself, but a human companion at the other end of the couch and a nice scratch behind the ears always make my day. If you’re looking for a resourceful addition to your team, think about signing this Most Valuable Pussycat.

“People come in with their own unique personalities as well, and what I want in a cat may be different from what someone else wants,” says cat adoption coordinator Kate Youso. “You’re not bound by the results of the MYM personality assessment, but it does help narrow down the selection process, and we’ve seen a decrease in return rates since we implemented it.”

Because cats may behave very differently in settings with multiple felines versus a one-cat household, Simply Cats also manages a foster program through which volunteers not only offer an alternative to the center’s adoption rooms, but also record their observations of foster cat behavior as a way to aid the matching process.

As a Shop for Good beneficiary, Simply Cats will apply the funds raised on October 20 to its operating costs. “Every cat that we take in requires a lot of care,” says Cutler. “We have to make sure they are vaccinated, give them a medical check-up, microchip them, and spay and neuter if necessary – not to mention treating any issues that come up as a result of their medical evaluation.”

For a town with a reputation for being unfailingly dog-friendly, Simply Cats proves that the City of Trees’ soft spot for critters extends well beyond our canine companions. And while as a confirmed cat lover I have to admit to a bias, it makes me feel good to live in a town where I’d be proud to have our civic compassion measured by the way we treat a homeless tabby.

Click here for a YouTube video interview with cat adoption coordinator Kate Youso describing Simply Cat’s Meet Your Match program.

Whether you’ve been plucking cherry tomatoes from a planter on your apartment balcony, or reaping the bounty of a hundred acres of table grapes, this is the time of year to both give thanks for the blessings of sun and soil, as well as let the breeze of an autumn afternoon cool the sweat on your brow.  It’s a good time to pause, take a deep breath, and reflect on all that the summer has given back in return for your toil.

Last year, the Co-op chose to celebrate the season in partnership with Idaho Botanical Garden through our jointly presented Fall Harvest Festival.  It turned out to be the perfect combination of a gorgeous venue, a wonderful array of family activities, and the opportunity to showcase many of the great folks who bring their harvest to our store throughout the year.  Best of all, the community embraced it wholeheartedly.  It’s no surprise, therefore, that the Co-op and Idaho Botanical Garden are getting together to do it again.  Fall Harvest 2011 will take place on Saturday and Sunday, October 8 – 9 at the Idaho Botanical Garden.

Once again, the Fall Harvest Festival provides attendees with a chance to celebrate Idaho foods, beer, and wine, and will include a farmers’ market with a variety of local vendors and fresh foods characteristic of the Co-op. Fall brews, wine, and cider will also be available for purchase.  The Fall Harvest Festival will also feature activities for people of all ages, including live music, a you-pick pumpkin patch, mini maze, hay rides, and the annual Scarecrow Stroll contest. Guests are invited to vote on their favorite “Character from a Children’s Book” Scarecrow, which will be awarded the “Community Choice Awards” at the end of October.

Fall Harvest Festival
Idaho Botanical Garden, 2355 Old Penitentiary Road
Saturday, October 8, featuring music by Jonathan Warren & the Billy Goats, and Big Wow
Sunday, October 9, featuring music by Hokum Hi-Flyers, and Hillfolk Noir
Noon to 6:00 pm each day
$3 for Idaho Botanical Garden and Boise Co-op Members; $6 non-members; $3 for children ages 4-12

For more information, click here to visit the Idaho Botanical website.

There are three iconic events that serve as autumnal harbingers – each of which showcases a unique aspect of our Treasure Valley culture, and each of which we’re pleased to participate in: Art in the Park, Hyde Park Street Fair, and the Fall Harvest Festival.

How do we love thee, Fall? Let us count the ways. Colorful leaves, Oktoberfests, cooler days, college football, the cascade of holidays, squash…the list goes on and on.

I know I shouldn’t play favorites when it comes to the seasons; after all, one of the great things about living in the Treasure Valley is that despite the occasional sub-zero or triple digit extremes, every equinox and solstice gives us something to like about it. But when all is said and done, gosh darn it, I just love Fall the best. There…I said it.

There are three iconic events that serve as autumnal harbingers – each of which showcases a unique aspect of our Treasure Valley culture, and each of which we’re pleased to participate in: Art in the Park, Hyde Park Street Fair, and the Fall Harvest Festival. No doubt about it, if you really want to get into that Fall frame of mind, you have to make the scene at the triple crown of Fall celebrations.

Art in the Park

Julia Davis Park, Boise

Friday, Sept. 9 and  Saturday, Sept. 10, 10am – 8pm; Sunday, Sept. 11, 10am – 5pm

It’s hard to believe that 2011 marks the 57^th year of Boise’s premier showcase of local and regional artistic talent. This year’s event features 236 artists, including 53 new artists and 67 Idaho artists. Along with a feast for the eyes you’ll find 44 food booths offering everything from pulled pork sliders to fresh fruit smoothies. Parents will no doubt want to indulge their progenies’ creative genius in the Children’s Art Tent while listening to Boise Rock School and the Random Canyon Growlers perform at the Gene Harris Bandshell, then skip over to the Sculpture Garden Pub for some “adult” refreshment.

To further benefit the congenial hosts of Art in the Park, Boise Art Museum, you can enter a drawing for prizes that include two Bogus Basin season passes, some cool nights on the town, and a La Vita Scooter from Scooters of Boise. Be advised, however, that I plan on winning that scooter. Just sayin’.

Boise Co-op is pleased to be partnering with Boise Art Museum this year in hosting a Friday dinner for participating artists on the first day of Art in the Park. Our Deli is putting together a wonderful menu to bolster the bodies and souls of the folks who will be bringing the art to you at Julia Davis Park.

Hyde Park Street Fair

Camel’s Back Park, Boise

Friday, Sept. 16, 4pm – 10pm; Saturday, Sept. 17, 10am – 10pm; Sunday, Sept. 18, 10am – 6pm

What we love about the Hyde Park Street Fair is that at its heart, it’s more than just a good excuse for the mother of all block parties. It’s an affirmation that in a society increasingly shaped by homogenized and mass produced culture, being local still counts for something. In a suburban ethos of living next to people for years without ever catching much more than a glimpse of them beyond walking out to the mailbox at the same time (never mind knowing their names), it’s nice to know that a neighborhood can still get together and celebrate its…well, “neighborliness.” Up in heaven, Mr. Rogers is smiling.

Hyde Park Harvest Chili

For the three days of art vendors, live music, and food and drink that is the Hyde Park Street Fair, Boise Co-op will once again have a booth full of comestibles and geegaws…with a notable addition: our first ever signature soup: Hyde Park Harvest Chili. Vibrant in color and flavor, intense, complex, layered, and displaying all the bounty of the local fall harvest, you can think of it as the culinary equivalent of the North End itself. We’ll be serving it up at the Fair and at our Deli every Thursday throughout the Fall season.

Fall Harvest Festival

Idaho Botanical Garden, Boise

Saturday, Oct. 8 and Sunday, Oct. 9, Noon – 6pm

Every season has its associated culinary joys, but Fall reigns supreme as the season of bounty, and a time when the approaching equinox reminds us of our many blessings as we bring home the harvest.

The Idaho Botanical Garden and Boise Co-op have once again teamed up to celebrate the beautiful fall season with the Fall Harvest Festival at the Garden. Along with its traditional Scarecrow Stroll, the whole family can enjoy live music, hay rides, a hay maze, pumpkin bowling, and pumpkin painting.

This year, kids will be able to pick their own pumpkins from the Botanical Garden Pumpkin Patch – a great reminder that food actually comes from green things that grow in the soil! And to underscore that point, Boise Co-op has lined up more than a dozen local food producers who will let you sample their wares as well as share their stories. It will be a great way to relax and celebrate all the best things about Fall in the Treasure Valley before the rush of the holiday season is upon us.

We hope we’ll see you at all of these events, and that you and your family will make them as treasured a part of the season as they have become for all of us here at Boise Co-op.

It was, in fact, that latter sentiment that inspired Festa Italiana.  For awhile now, the Boise Co-op Wine Shop has been working with Small Vineyards, a group that describes itself as follows:

“We are seekers of those outstanding small vineyard wines. Most importers would never give these wines a second thought, regardless of quality, because there is not enough to make a brand. Think of Small Vineyards as your personal wine detectives in Italy. We typically taste 200 to 300 wines each month, but only fall in love with one or two. Those we bring home, so that you, too, can discover them.”

To which we must add, God Bless You!  If you can’t get behind a cause like this, what can you endorse?

To advance this cause, Small Vineyards has organized Festa Italiana events in a number of markets where people are passionate about great food and wine, bringing together a variety of local vendors and producers to provide a cross section of Italian cuisine.  In the case of Boise, we realized that this cross section could conveniently be found in one single culinary venue: the Boise Co-op!  So, here’s what we have planned for Saturday, August 27, from noon to 5 pm.  For a sneak peak at some of the Italian wines we’ll be featuring at this year’s Festa Italiana, click here for a video with Leil Cardoza from the Boise Co-op Wine Shop.

Sip Vino with an Italian Wine Maker

The Boise Co-op Wine Shop will once again play host to renowned Italian wine maker Antonio Sanguineti, whose last name we’re pretty sure translates into something having to do with contentment…but then, consider the fact that his motto is, “May we all die young, as late as possible.”

Say Cheese!

The Co-op Deli Cheese Department will once again assemble a sampling of Italian cheeses to pair with our wine selections.  While Jane the Cheese Lady is busy finalizing the line up, we have it on good authority that it will once again include Piave Vecchio, an aged cows milk cheese (think sharp cheddar) that like its cousin Parmigiano Reggiano is terrific with crisp apples, a good baguette, or grated over pasta.  We’ll be telling you more about the other cheeses to be featured in the days preceding Festa, so stay tuned for more details from Jane the Cheese Lady.

Italian Sushi and Other Delights

We’ll have other Co-op Departments on board as well to bring you a sampling of la dolce vida, Mediterranean style – one that last year included olives, peppered jam, and biscotti that you’ll want to dip in that next cup of espresso (and yes, we have Italian Roast coffee beans, pisan).  This year we’re getting our Sushi Bar in the act with some fusion rolls that will introduce the Ginza to Genoa.  And if you make your way through all that, you can round out the day with tastes of our Trovare Gelato!

Win a Bike!

In case we haven’t given you enough reasons to make the scene on August 27, we’ll throw in one more: a chance to win the sweet ride in this picture.  Rest assured we’ll find some appropriate goodies to put in the basket along with your little dog Toto, who based on his name is obviously from the Old Country as well.  Show up, enter the drawing, sip some great wines, nosh on cheeses, fusion sushi and other comestibles…and who knows, you might just pedal away on a new cruiser bike.  If you can think of a better way to spend a summer afternoon, please invite us!  We’ll bring the wine.

Come see us at the Co-op Wine Shop on August 27 from noon to 5 pm for a taste of Italy.

“Life is a combination of magic and pasta” -Federico Fellini

“We have a compassionate community, and together we can stop the killing of healthy dogs and cats in our lifetime.” Diane Ayers

Diane Ayers

Diane Ayers is a woman who likes a challenge. Fresh out of Boise State University with a degree in business administration and accounting, she helped turn around the fortunes of a local airline catering company before going on to create her own enterprise based on buying used shoes from thrift stores and exporting them to Africa. She competed in the Iron Man Triathalon world championship in Hawaii…and not long after entered Ididabike, the mountain bike equivalent of the famous dog sled race in Alaska.

When Diane’s endurance sports career was sidelined as a result of accidents, she decided to channel her energies into another long time passion: animals. Today, Diane Ayers races against a different sort of clock: ending the killing of healthy dogs and cats in Idaho within her lifetime.

“Now I’m just racing for the animals,” Diane says. “I’m racing to save lives.”

For over a decade, Diane has been involved in animal rescue services, including a low-cost spay and neuter service of the Idaho Humane Society. Diane envisioned a service that could handle a higher volume of procedures, and in August 2008 she helped found SNIP (Spay & Neuter Idaho Pets) as a 501(c)(3) non-profit using grants and donations to provide vouchers for spay and neuter services for dog and cat owners, regardless of their incomes.

In the past twelve months alone, SNIP has funded nearly 500 spay and neuter procedures through a network of participating veterinarians who offer their services at the discounted rate of $25-$40 to neuter or spay cats, and $65-$100 to neuter or spay dogs. As impressive as SNIP’s success may seem, however, it falls short of Diane’s goal of eliminating the killing of healthy dogs and cats for no other reason than being unwanted.

“People don’t realize that on a national level, one of every two animals that goes into a shelter won’t come out alive,” she says. “Although the rate at the Idaho Humane Society is much better, we need to do more to prevent these deaths. One out of two is great if you’re playing the lottery, but not if you’re a dog or a cat going into a shelter because you have no home.”

SNIP is currently in the process of acquiring their own building, and they will also need to recruit a professional staff that can handle the volume (35 animals per vet per day) that the organization estimates will be necessary to keep them in business.

“This isn’t a ‘if you build it they will come’ scenario,” Diane says. “We need to have a solid foundation in place of not only qualified veteranarians but also administrative, marketing, and fund raising staff as well.”

In addition to its spay and neuter services, SNIP plays an important educational role in the community – sharing information not only about the importance of spaying and neutering pets, but also about vaccination resources and topics such as trap, neuter and return of feral cats. Each month, for example, SNIP hosts a “Black Dog Walk” to call attention to the particular challenges faced by black dogs and cats (bias based on superstition, susceptibility to heat exhaustion, etc.), and to which dogs of all colors and their owners (of all colors as well) are invited. “Look past the color and into the hearts and souls,” urges Diane, who herself is the proud companion of no fewer than four dogs and four cats.

On Thursday, August 18, Boise Co-op’s Shop for Good will be dedicated to SNIP – and during the day you’ll find Diane Ayers at our store promoting the mission of her organization with the tirelessness that only an endurance athlete can bring to bear.

Her message will be a simple one: become a voice for animals. “We have a compassionate community, and together we can stop the killing of healthy dogs and cats in our lifetime,” she says. Given Diane’s constitution, that lifetime may be a long one, but the former triathlete has no doubts about reaching the finish line – and with four percent of purchases at the store and Wine Shop going to SNIP on that day, our customers will help her organization get there just a little bit sooner.

Click here for a YouTube video interview with Diane Ayers about her organization and its goals.

Unlike grocery store chains, if our community isn’t healthy, we’re not healthy — we can’t simply shift the burden of profitability to some other town.  This is the only home we have.

We at the Boise Co-op support a lot of local causes.  In fact, it’s safe to say that not a month goes by that we aren’t contributing to and/or promoting a local non-profit or community service group — starting with our monthly Shop for Good recipients.

Sure…there’s a certain amount of enlightened self-interest behind our philanthropy.  After all, if you want your “brand” identified with the best your community has to offer, food-related or otherwise, you need to be a visible contributor to that community.  And unlike grocery store chains, if our community isn’t healthy, we’re not healthy — we can’t simply shift the burden of profitability to some other town.  This is the only home we have.

One of the local causes that we recently contributed to is Middle Fork Clean Sweep, a group of volunteers who come together annually to clean up trash along the Middle Fork of the Boise River from Arrowrock Reservoir to the town of Atlanta.  This year’s clean up takes place Saturday, August 13, from 8 am to 1 pm.  For four hours of volunteer service, participants join together for a 1:30 pm BBQ at the confluence of the North and Middle forks of the Boise River at mile marker 32.  It’s true: there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

I recently spoke to one of the event organizers, Bill Bradeen, whose 9 to 5 gig is with Idaho Entertainment Events.  Bill and five buddies were camping along the Boise River a few years ago when they happened upon a game warden and chatted him up about their concerns over the trash along the river.  But rather then simply grouse and pop another top on a PBR, Bill and his friends (including the game warden) decided to take action and recruit volunteers to clean up along the river.

Now in its third year, the goal of the Middle Fork Clean Sweep is to gather between 80 and 100 volunteers, who are divided into groups of four to six individuals.  Each group is assigned a roughly 2-mile stretch of the river to “sanitize.”  Allied Waste contributes a dumpster which is picked up the following Monday.  Bill and his buddies rely on contributions to cover the costs of trash bags, gloves, water, t-shirts…and, of course, the lunch they host as a “thank you” to the volunteers who show up.

“The biggest benefit of what we do is help to keep Idaho beautiful so our kids can have this area to enjoy, just as we have,” says the modest Mr. Bradeen.

If you’d like to spend a day in paradise and know the satisfaction of helping to keep it pristine as you stand shoulder to shoulder with like-minded citizens — not to mention enjoying a BBQ in the great outdoors — click here for a volunteer form that you can fill out and send to Middle Fork Clean Sweep.  You can also get more info by contacting Eric at 208-703-1811 or 208-866-4407, or send an e-mail to vzappy@gmail.com

Local heroes, we salute you!