we personally care.

When Avista CARES representative Debi Neumaier learned about a change in Idaho's food stamp system that excluded personal care items, she got busy.

"We became aware that there was a huge need for things like laundry soap, shampoo, toothpaste. When you're looking for a job, you need those items to make yourself presentable," she says.

Fast forward a few years and We Personally Care has grown to a Kootenai County-wide program supplying 22,000 pounds of personal care items a year. Nearly 700 volunteers roam the county picking up donations and delivering them to the Kootenai County Community Action Partnership Food Bank for distribution.

"When you start a program and you believe in it, you have to get other people to believe in it," Neumaier says. "And they do."

And we believe in our employees' ability to make a difference.