Moscow venture in its 15th year of fulfilling wishes

MOSCOW -- Last November, the Alternative Giving Market of the Palouse raised $50,250 for about 30 nonprofits between the in-person event at the Latah County Fairgrounds and online giving.

This year the market should have more than 30 Latah County nonprofits involved, and the online giving starts Nov. 24 at agmpalouse.org. The in-person event is set for Dec. 12 in Moscow.

At the market, residents can donate to nonprofits of their choice and receive a card to send to loved ones letting them know that instead of a gift, money has been donated in their name.

Leadership team member Casey Bartrem is in her first year volunteering with the market and is excited to see it all come together.

“It’s incredible what we can do for the local community,” Bartrem said.

Bartrem said she had always loved shopping for gifts at the market because of the benefit to the local community. She said the cards sold by market attendees worked well as gifts for her family who often said they didn’t need anything.

“What’s really cool is being able to say ‘I made a donation in your name,’” said market leadership team member Sandra Kelly.

The market has come a long way from its start in 2009 where it raised $7,474 for 25 local nonprofits in about four hours. The market started in the University of Idaho Prichard Art Gallery in downtown Moscow — now Moscow Contemporary. It would start the same night as the city’s lighted holiday parade. The event moved to the 1912 Center when it outgrew the art gallery

When it left the 1912 Center about four years ago, Kelly said she got involved in organizing it. She had participated with nonprofits before joining the leadership team.

Kelly and Bertrem said many of the organizations involved use the giving market as its main fundraiser of the year.

Participants in 2023 include Alternative to Violence on the Palouse, APOD productions, Family Promise of the Palouse, Inland Oasis, Latah Recovery, Palouse Land Trust and more. A complete list is available on the Alternative Giving Market of the Palouse website, agmpalouse.org.

Costs is $30 for nonprofits accepted to be part of the market. The fee covers the rental of the fairgrounds, marketing and other small costs. Applications are accepted each year in late September and early October.

A new addition to the market this year are “Dan Dollars,” Kelly said. These dollars are donated by the public in memory of Dan Noble, a founding member of the market who died in 2021.The dollars are collected and are then raffled off to participating nonprofits during the main event in December.

“He passed away and we thought ‘it doesn’t feel like the market without him,’ so we made Dan Dollars,” Kelly said.

Note: A Daily News story on the first Alternative Giving Market can be found here: bit.ly/47Bnhyl

Nelson can be reached at knelson@dnews.com.