Grief center to host paddle auction
Dana Remley has seen the positive
impact Tamarack Grief Resource Center has on children and teens who
are grieving the death of a parent or family member.
From her perspective as a school
psychologist at Muldown Elementary, Tamarack is filling a vital
role in helping Western Montana kids walk through the grieving
process.
“I’ve seen it make such a difference,”
Remley said. “It’s a magical and moving experience to see kids
learn to heal.”
Remley is on the Tamarack Grief Center
board, a non-profit group that specializes in bereavement camps
held on Flathead and Georgetown Lakes. The center hosts the
three-night “A Camp to Remember” each year, which is crafted for
children ages 8-14 years old who have lost a family member.
The group will hold their annual custom
paddle auction and benefit dinner Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. at The Lodge.
This is their major fundraiser of the year in the Flathead. All
money raised goes directly to the center’s programs.
Local artists have crafted wooden
paddles that will be auctioned off. This year’s artists include
Nancy Bunlop Cawdry, Carol Hagen, John Rawlings, Matt Springer,
Marsha McDonald, Hal Sundvahl, Lisa Schaus, Kelly Agar and Lorina
Smith.
Tamarack began in 2008 behind the
efforts of executive director Tina Barrett, who specializes in
outdoor-based grief support. When a family member or loved one
dies, Barrett says, support for surviving children and adults is
limited. Tamarack fills that void.
There is no other program in the area
offering year-round support for grieving children, which is why the
center’s work is so important, Tamarack co-founder Barb Myers
said.
At the annual “A Camp to Remember”
program, children and teens are brought together for three nights
on Flathead Lake. Activities and programs are crafted to help guide
campers through the grieving process. They go on nature hikes,
sing, explore the lake by canoe or kayak, and write in
journals.
However, board member Lisa Poler says
the unity created between campers who have lost family members
offers the most healing.
“Being around other kids creates a
sense of universality,” Poler said. “They see they’re not alone and
that other kids understand what they’re going through.”
She also notes the camp’s setting on
Flathead Lake.
“They are healing from nature, too,”
Poler said. “Just being there is healing.”
Campers often return year after year,
and sometimes act as mentors to first-time campers.
“All of the campers say they want to
come back,” Remley said. “I have teenagers tell me they don’t know
where they would be in their life without the support they got from
the program.”
Tamarack Grief Center has only five
paid staff members and is mostly run by a volunteer board and
staff. More than 1,400 children have been through their program.
Tamarack also helps educate school counselors on how to deal with
students who are grieving.
Tamarack never turns down a family who
can’t afford their camp program.
The benefit dinner and auction is
sponsored by the Whitefish Credit Union, Johnson-Gloschat Funeral
Home and North Valley Hospital. Tickets for the event are $75 and
can be purchased at Wheeler Jewelry in Kalispell, at the Red Union
Salon in Whitefish or by calling 249-2196.
Dinner starts at 7 p.m. and the auction
begins at 7:45 p.m.