If you buy a man a fish, he eats for one night. If you help purchase a brand new set of tires for a person in need, they can drive to the grocery store and buy a fish for years to come.

As the giving season grows nigh, the Coeur d’Alene Press is gearing up for its 35th annual Press Christmas for All program. Teaming up with local nonprofit organization Charity Reimagined, The Press hopes to offer a hand up for community members in need.

The new and improved charity program focuses on assisting Kootenai County residents by fundraising for crucial needs such as winter clothes and car repairs to help families long after Christmas is over.

This year's program was more about quality than quantity — though there was plenty of the latter, too, when the community came together to donate $182,000.

"If we can take a $400 purchase — snow tires, an HVAC fix, whatever — off their plate and these people are going
to be able to provide Christmas for their family on their own, that instills a sense of pride that reinforces what they’re doing, and that’s the hand up," Schroeder said.

Charity Reimagined founder Maggie Lyons said this year's Christmas for All gifts didn't just make it a memorable Christmas — they changed people's lives.

"It was a magnificent journey on many levels for us as a community," she said, adding that some of the biggest needs included dental work, automotive work, eye glasses and home repairs.

Lyons and her Charity Reimagined colleagues, who include Leslie Orth of the Post Falls Food Bank and long-time Union Gospel Mission volunteer Jackie Maker, worked with referring agencies that recommended clients for this year's program.

Applicants were vetted throughly, sometimes more than once.

"We knew for a fact that the monetary gift from the community was absolutely going to the most significant item in each one of these recipients’ lives," Schroeder said. "The measure of this program this year was the specific impact for the people who may not need it next year."

Lyons said it was overwhelming to hear so many requests, but she felt privileged to speak to every person and share resources and messages of hope with people who had never really had that conversation before.

"These were impacts that last well beyond a year," Lyons said. "These are gifts that are really blessings."

She said she was grateful to Press Christmas for All for serving as a conduit and leading the way for how other nonprofits in our area can work alongside their people.

"Real needs were meaningfully met," she said. "I think we as a community are so much better because of what Christmas for All did this year."