Supporting our local Coasties

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Friday January 18, 2019 · 12:30 PM PST

2019/01/18 · 12:30

Idaho is an inland state with no navigable waters so the Coast Guard presence here is almost non existent. Our Coast Guard presence amounts to a single recruiting station in Boise with four personnel on board. This station has a recruiting territory that covers all of Idaho, Montana and North Dakota, and parts of Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming.

Today my wife had business in Boise and stopped by the station to ask how she could help them. They replied that they had just been talking about that among themselves, or more accurately, what people can not do. Boiling down the limitations of federal ethics guidelines, they can only recieve a one time gift valued at $20. My wife asked about intervals of giving, and if she could come back at a later date with another gift. They told her only one gift per person ever. They did say we could give through Coast Guard Mutual Assistance but that the administrative time from application to funds disbursement is about three weeks.

With that information, my wife went to a nearby grocery store, purchased $80 worth of groceries, $20 per person at the station, and took the food to the station. They thanked her with some sweet Coast Guard recruiting SWAG.

Our plan now is that I will make a similar gift to the station, which unfortunately will legally max out our family’s direct contribution to our local Coasties. After that it will have to be gifts through CGMA.

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