17 local students win $50,000 in Major Don Gilger scholarships

Seventeen local students received help with college or technical school bills through the Major Don Gilger Scholarship, which distributed $50,000 to graduating seniors tied to Kootenai County and Upper Columbia Academy in Spangle, Washington.

Three students received $5,000 awards and 14 more got $2,500 scholarships. The money is aimed at graduating seniors from accredited high schools in Idaho’s five northern counties or Upper Columbia Academy who plan to enroll in a college or technical education program and can show academic achievement, character and service. The Kroc Center’s Board Development Committee handles the selection, and recipients may be featured in Kroc publications and social media.

The award was established by Pepper Smock in 2025 to honor Major Don Gilger, who along with Major Ronda Gilger spent 41 years serving as Salvation Army officers. The couple led the Coeur d’Alene Kroc Center from 2018 to 2025 after a Salvation Army journey that began in Spokane and eventually reached more than 30 countries. The scholarship criteria go beyond grades, asking applicants to explain how mentors, accomplishments and educational goals shaped the way they serve others.

That makes the program more than a line item for tuition relief. For students trying to move straight from local high schools into college certificates, technical credentials or other postsecondary training, the scholarships reduce the cost of staying on a North Idaho track instead of leaving the region to pay for school elsewhere.

The Gilger awards also sit inside a larger Kroc Center scholarship system that has become a recurring part of the local education landscape. In 2025, the center awarded $19,000 in scholarships, including 10 Dr. Riggs Leadership Scholarships of $1,000 each and two Major Ben Markham Continuing Education Scholarships of $4,500 each. The same $19,000 total was awarded in 2024.

That pattern reflects the scale of the Coeur d’Alene Kroc Center itself. The center opened on May 14, 2009, and by May 2023 it had grown to more than 17,000 members, the largest membership among the Salvation Army’s 26 Kroc Centers nationwide. Its 2022 finance report showed $4.4 million in membership revenue, $2.3 million from its endowment fund, $517,000 from donations and grants, and $373,295 from Red Kettle and Flannel Fest fundraising.

The same report showed how deeply the center is woven into daily life in the region. In 2022 it provided 1,121 membership scholarships, helped save 21 families and seniors from homelessness, delivered 1,591 meals, school snacks and grocery gift cards, and gave grief support and personal visits to nearly 1,300 people. The Gilger scholarship extends that reach by putting education money directly into the hands of students who are most likely to turn local training into a local career.