Kids sell cherries for a cause
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RONAN – Red, juicy cherries fesh off the tree are being sold by the pound to help raise money for the Boys and Girls Club.
Several teams with about two kids and at least one adult are taking turns selling cherries at the corner of Terrace Lake Road and U.S. Highway 93, just north of the light, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the next few weeks or until they run out of cherries.
“One-hundred percent of the proceeds go directly to the club,” said Aric Cooksley, Boys and Girls Club executive director. Cooksley was thankful for the prime location near the Ronan Indian Senior Center.
“The tribe donated the space here,” he said. “They have been very supportive of the club.”
The cherries were donated by an anonymous donor who has a cherry orchard on Finley Point. “The cherries are professionally picked,” he said. “So far, we’ve had well over 1,000 pounds of cherries donated to us.”
The kids sell the cherries by the pound. The Lamberts and Lapines, two red varieties, are mixed together and sold for $3 per pound. A 20-pound lug costs $30. The kids occasionally have Rainier cherries for $4 a pound.
Revenue from the cherry sales will help fund club projects like field trips and daily activities. It will also go towards new facilities in Ronan and Polson.
“We are working on a project to replace the Ronan facility,” he said. The highway expansion project set to widen the road will take out the existing club.
Cooksley hopes to include the Polson club in the expansion project so kids in the north part of the county can have more space. Polson is currently at capacity with only about 50 children at that location. The Ronan location serves about 100 children each day.
“We are only in the planning stages,” he said of the expansion. “We are just getting started.”
Selling cherries has helped the kids learn skills. One soon-to-be middle school student learned to come out of his shell.
“We have a kid that is fairly shy and he started learning how to work with the public,” Cooksley said. “With practice, practice, practice, he is now the one that introduces himself to people.”
Volunteer Sherlee Santorno was at the booth on Wednesday afternoon as the kids practiced sorting cherries.
“We have plenty of teachable moments here,” she said.
Aubrey Sharbono, 10, packed a few cherry-filled containers to the fridge on-site. Aubrey spends a lot of time with the Boys and Girls Club. She said some of the daily activities at the club include swimming, computer time, and socializing. Her favorite event was a trip to a local pumpkin patch to pet animals and pick out a pumpkin.
The kids focus on academic enrichment lessons in the morning hours. Lessons also include drug and alcohol prevention with a focus on prescription drugs.
“We use an evidence-based curriculum,” Cooksley said.
The program is open to children with working parents and for kids who just want something to do.
“We don’t have any specific type of kids,” he said. “Everyone is welcome. Our mission is to inspire and encourage all young people.”
Kolby Reum, 14, worked on learning how to count back change as he sold cherries. He said he really enjoyed the project but his favorite activity was fishing.
“We get to go fishing three times a week,” he said of one of the club activities.
He plans to fit a few fishing trips in around the cherry-selling project.
