Post Falls Kiwanis sends pink flamingos roaming lawns to fund scholarships

Pink flamingos started showing up on lawns across Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene on Monday, May 5, as the Post Falls Kiwanis Club launched its spring flocking fundraiser to support scholarships for local students.

The setup is simple and deliberately visible. For $20, neighbors can send a dozen flamingos to a yard, $35 buys two dozen, and $50 gets three dozen. Volunteers deliver the birds in daylight and move them from one lawn to another so the display keeps migrating through the month of May, turning each stop into a neighborhood spectacle instead of a quiet donation ask.

A note left with the flamingos tells recipients the birds will stay until the next day and then “mysteriously migrate” to another yard. That prank-like touch has helped the club keep the fundraiser going for more than a decade, while making it easy for people to spot and share.

The money has a direct payoff. The club expects to award about six or seven scholarships this year, and a large donation will allow it to hand out two additional scholarships worth $1,500 each. Those awards go to Post Falls High School seniors after they start university, community college or trade school in the fall after graduation.

The flamingo fundraiser also reflects how the club operates year-round. Chartered in 1947, the Post Falls Kiwanis Club says it is devoted to serving children in the local community. It sponsors the Post Falls High School Key Club and the local Boys and Girls Club, and its service projects include mentorships and college scholarships for Key Club students every year.

Last year, the club said the flamingo campaign brought in about $800 and decorated roughly two lawns a day through May. Key Club students helped one day a week and were among the scholarship recipients, adding a student-service layer to a fundraiser that depends on volunteers, low overhead and a little absurdity.

Carl Lovick is handling flamingo arrangements at 208-818-0840. For a club built around children and community service, the formula is hard to miss: a few bright plastic birds, a lot of neighborhood attention and scholarship dollars that stay close to home.