Mary Kay Foundation gives $20K for domestic abuse shelter

By Moira Blazi

 

On Monday, Oct. 29, Mary Kay Foundation representative Tamara Crismore met with members of the Libby Scatterguns and Barb Guthneck, representing Lincoln County Crisis Solutions, to hand over a $20,000 check to help build a new shelter for victims of domestic abuse.

The Libby Scatterguns, in conjunction with the Eureka chapter, hold  a “Shoot for Pink” event every year to benefit the Mary Kay Foundation, which in turn distributes millions of dollars in grants to organizations fighting domestic violence and cancer.

The Libby  and Eureka chapters hold their “Shoot for Pink” events on the same day.

“We’ve been doing this for eight years and raised a total of $52,669,” event organizer, Crismore, told The Montanian.

Dave and Marilyn Eider organize the Eureka event, and this past year a “Shoot for Pink” event was started in Kalispell as well.

The Mary Kay Foundation awarded over $3 million in grants this year to organizations working to end domestic violence.  This $20,000 awarded to Lincoln County Crisis Solutions was the only one given in the state of  Montana, the Eiders said.

Members of the Libby Scatterguns spent countless hours hand painting the hundreds of clay birds used in the shoot, a bright hot pink, Crismore told The Montanan.

The money is raised through individual pledges per clay bird or a flat amount for participation in the event, much like similar events that feature runs and walks, but there is no running in “Shoot for Pink.”

“If you see me running it will be from a grizzly bear,” Crismore said with a laugh.

Most of the $20,000 is going to remodel and repurpose a large shop building for use as a domestic abuse shelter, Guthneck said. “The finished shelter should be able to accommodate about eight people. With a large shelter in Eureka, and the addition of  this third shelter in Libby, Crisis Solutions will now be able to accommodate 33 people county wide.”  “Local folks have donated everything we need, from washers and dryers to TVs and toilets, and the local builders who are working on this project want no credit for their time, they are giving from the heart” she added. The shelter should be done by spring.

For more information call crisis solutions at 293-3223.