Red Cross fundraiser generates $20,000

The Daily Inter Lake

The local Red Cross is $20,000 richer after selling a generator that was recently donated to the organization by Merlin Information Systems of Kalispell.

The Evergreen water and sewer district had the winning bid.

"There was quite a bit of interest in it," said Gayle Wilhelm, director of the Northwest District Red Cross. "We're very excited that the generator will stay in the area."

The money will help the Red Cross "keep its doors open," Wilhelm said, and will be earmarked for disaster assistance and health and safety courses. The Northwest District operates with an annual budget of $150,000.

"We receive no federal dollars," Wilhelm noted. "We're federally mandated to respond to disasters, but our money comes strictly from donations, so this is a great shot in the arm."

Merlin, a data information business, gave the gigantic generator to the Red Cross after it built a new data center and upgraded equipment.

When the Red Cross found the generator simply too big to handle and too expensive to ship elsewhere for disaster relief, officials decided to use it as a fundraiser.