February 8, 2025, marks the inaugural 007 Casino Royale Charity Gala to benefit the Red & Blue Foundation.
Founded in 2005 after a critical incident involving a local first responder, Mike Kralicek, the Red & Blue Foundation aims to assist with needs both big and small for area first responders and their immediate family. As the largest first responder support nonprofit in Kootenai County, the foundation is equipped to assist the needs of first responders in a variety of ways.
“We have liaisons within each department in Kootenai County who bring forth needs for our board to discuss and vote on, and we have the ability to act quickly and without delay,” states Jessica Herbig, Red & Blue Foundation board member.
“Over the past few years our giving through the foundation to first responders in need has exceeded the money coming in,” Jessica explains. “After brainstorming different ways to increase our visibility in the community, we decided to plan and execute a Casino Royale Gala that would appeal to a larger portion of the residents of Kootenai County, over and above what our golf event in August brings in. Our desire is to partner better with businesses in Kootenai County who may already support our first responders. Our ultimate goal as a foundation is to raise enough funds through this event for our entire 2025 giving.”
Held at The Coeur d’Alene Resort in downtown Coeur d’Alene, individual tickets start at $99 and can be purchased online at RedBlueFoundation.org. “We wanted it to stay affordable for members of our community to come and be a part of this event, but our hope is to fund the majority of the event through various business sponsorships,” Jessica shares. There are various sponsorship levels still available, which can also be found on the foundation’s website.
Gala attendees will enjoy an evening filled with live music, live and silent auctions, casino table games and poker tournament, raffle drawings, a delicious meal prepared by the chefs at The Coeur d’Alene Resort, and an inspirational presentation by a guest speaker.
When it comes to the live and silent auctions, Jessica affirms that local businesses and community members “have shown up in a big way.” For the live auction thus far, they have two trips: one week in Roatan, Honduras, and one week in Cabo, Mexico, courtesy of local community members. Then there’s a day at the range for two with Snipercraft Northwest, custom knives handcrafted by Buck Knives, custom chef knives from Performance Edgeworks, private dinner with local chef Lesa LeBeau, tamale making party for eight, a light painting photography session with Fine Image Art, a day on the St. Joe with Killgore Adventures, and a skeet shoot with a Bison Burger BBQ. For silent auction items attendees can bid on family portrait sessions, local restaurant gift cards and baskets, salon gift cards and baskets, a G9 Ammo package, BBQ gift basket from ICCU, car wash basket packages from Squeaky’s, and many more.
The guest speaker for the evening is a gentleman the Red & Blue Foundation helped with an award this past year who reached out to them wanting to share his story of what their support as a foundation meant to him and his family after an unexpected medical event. “We can’t wait to introduce him to everyone on the night of the event to talk about his experience with our foundation,” Jessica smiles.
With a goal to raise a minimum of $100,000 during the course of the fundraising event, all proceeds will go directly into monetary awards to first responders in need. “We always hope that we’ll never have to use the funds, but the reality is we’ve given away over $70,000 in 2024 alone to help with mental health and counseling resources, paying medical bills directly, and more,” Jessica notes.
As the wife of a first responder herself, there have been numerous times Jessica has found herself sitting helplessly at home as her husband received a callout and had to run out the door, anxiously awaiting to hear that he was safe. “Short of prayer, I joined the Red & Blue Foundation to be helpful in more ways,” she says. “By purchasing tickets and attending this event, it allows our community to rally around our first responders in a tangible way and show them that they’re supported by their whole community.”
Red & Blue Foundation
P.O. Box 1748
Hayden, ID 83835
208.660.0129
hello@redbluefoundation.org
RedBlueFoundation.org
