BOISE, Idaho — During his 2018 State of the City Address, Boise Mayor Dave Bieter announced the roll out of the Boise Kind campaign, an initiative aimed at spreading kindness throughout the community.
"He had been asked by the community members to preserve the kindness in our community because we know that is unique to Boise," said Lana Graybeal, who works for the city of Boise.
The city hired the Boise-based public relations firm Spark Solutions last December to market the campaign for one-year to the tune of $80,000.
So far, Graybeal says the contract has been well worth the money.
"The week-long events, all of those partnerships, a lot of the connections they helped us make with the steering committee, the nonprofit organizations, it’s been invaluable to making this the success it was," Graybeal said.
Graybeal likened the $80,000 contract to startup costs, saying hiring an outside company may not be necessary in the future.
"Now that we are almost done with year one we will reevaluate what we need help with next year and whether we need outside help to make that happen," Graybeal said.
The city spent an additional $4,000 to market Boise Kind Day, which was last Saturday.
Graybeal says at least 600 volunteers turned out.
"There were over 161 volunteers pulling goatheads in Hulls Gulch, Camel's Back, as well as Military Reserve and Warm Springs Park along the Greenbelt," said Martha Brabec, who works for Boise Parks and Recreation. "There were over 200 volunteers who helped spruce up two parks as well as two community gardens as well as an area along the Greenbelt and areas along Veterans Memorial."
Brabec says for the all volunteers who turned out Saturday, $4,000 was well spent.
"These are tasks that are difficult for us to accomplish as a staff so we can’t do this work without volunteers," Brabec said.