PORT ANGELES — The donations were dazzling in their variety.
Metal sculptures from Peninsula College welding students.
Tickets to the Port Angeles Symphony.
Drawing lessons, excavating services, gift certificates from Costco Wholesale and Swain’s General Store.
That was last year.
This year, artist Bob Stokes is hoping for a replay on behalf of the Northwest Kiwanis Camp.
The program, for youngsters and adults with developmental and medical disabilities, provides scholarships every summer, thanks in part to the annual auction, art show and sale Stokes organizes.
Stokes collaborates with the Port Angeles Arts Council to hold the fundraiser at his art gallery in downtown Port Angeles: Studio Bob, upstairs at 118½ E. Front St.
Dual beneficiaries
Proceeds from the event, which is set for this Saturday evening, support both the Northwest Kiwanis Camp and the arts council.
This week, Stokes and Eric Neurath, president of the arts council, are gathering donations for the silent auction, which will start at 5 p.m. Saturday, and a live auction to follow at 6 p.m.
Donations can be just about anything of $20 or more in value, Stokes said. He welcomes fine art and all manner of gift certificates and services from local business people.
In 2010, for example, artist Cindy Elstrom contributed ceramics classes and Jim DeBord donated excavating services.
“People have rallied around us,” said Stokes.
Donations, or descriptions of them, must be delivered to Studio Bob by 7 p.m. this Friday; information is available by phoning Stokes at 415-990-0457 or emailing sculptorBobStokes@yahoo.com.
Since both the camp and the Port Angeles Arts Council are registered nonprofits, donations may be tax-deductible, Stokes noted.
Both Neurath and Stokes, who volunteers as an art teacher at the Kiwanis camp each summer, believe in it wholeheartedly.
For the campers, “life can be pretty restricted, pretty routine,” Neurath said. “For a lot of them, the camp is the highlight of the year.”
‘Real relief’
This is the one time, Stokes said, when “special-needs kids get to do things like art, dance, music, crafts, going fishing.”
At the same time, the camp provides “a real relief for the parents and caregivers.”
To learn more about the Northwest Kiwanis Camp, visit www.KiwanisCamp.com.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
