Celebration Oct. 16 in Uniontown: 'Sharing Corner' to start at Uniontown, Colton

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Oct 11, 20180

A new community resource will kick off Oct. 16 in Uniontown for a program that will also start in Colton and is intended to expand from there across the Palouse.

“Sharing Corners” was begun by a group of people who took a class last winter at the Colfax library given by Rural Development Initiatives, based in Eugene, Ore. The local group came up with an idea for a project and later used a $5,000 grant from the Innovia Foundation to bring it to fruition.

Inspired by the concept of the free-standing “Little Libraries” in various communities that hold give-and-take books, larger “Sharing Corners” will be a place for non-perishable food, paper products, toiletries and games.

“We wanted to add a family gathering idea to it, too,” said Nan Konishi, former mayor of Rosalia.

The “Sharing Corners” will be outdoor and will also have indoor versions. The first two will open in Colton and Uniontown.

A volunteer woodworker is building the Sharing Corner for Uniontown. Made of wood with a plexiglass door, it will be placed at a location not yet announced.

“It almost looks like an outhouse,” Konishi commented.

The first Sharing Corner will be inside the Colton Post Office, accessible 24 hours per day at a place where many community members have already been sharing excess produce and other goods.

Details and a toolkit for other communities to develop Sharing Corners will be available after the Oct. 16 event.

The project includes the initial stocking of the Sharing Corners, funded by the Avista Foundation, Innovia, and the Empire Health Foundation.

Group members on the project come from Rosalia, Malden, Uniontown, Colton, Moscow, Palouse and Pullman.

Sharing Corner donations for continued stocking may be brought to the Colton Post Office.

“Our goal is to seek stakeholders and open more across the Palouse,” Konishi said. “We’re shooting for diversity in this whole program.”

The “Sharing Corner Celebration” will be at the Uniontown Community Building Tuesday, Oct. 16, from 6 - 8 p.m. It will include family games, sandwiches, wraps and cider.