From The Well-Read Moose August 11, 2026:
Melissa DeMotte
Proprietrix, The Well-Read Moose
Greetings Dear Friends,
The devastating wildfires in Spokane are in my thoughts almost constantly. It is so hard to comprehend the losses felt by our neighbors and the challenges ahead to rebuild their lives. I tend to feel quite helpless and unsure of what I can do. My years of work with nonprofit organizations reminded me that there are ways to help, and doing some online research felt like I was doing something. I thought I would share a few organizations that both our store and I personally will be supporting.
The Innovia Foundation in Spokane is where our Blind Date with a Book donations will be going for the next several months. We have worked with them for teacher book grants and know they will do an excellent job getting funds to the local nonprofits doing the best work to help families and businesses rebound and hopefully rebuild. I will be matching our customer donations and hope you will consider supporting them as well.
SpokAnimal is helping reunite animals with their humans, collecting pet supplies for families and working to find foster homes for folks who can’t have their pets with them in the short term. I am thinking about fostering a kitty or two in hopes that it will bring some relief to a family or two that loves their animals and worries about them too.
Catholic Charities Eastern Washington provides emergency services for fire victims. My best friend Lisa works for a parish in Laguna Beach, California. She said all the parishes in the Orange County diocese are raising funds to support this branch of Catholic Charities. With all the fires over the years in Southern California, they know how much support will be needed in the months ahead.
Our fundraising efforts started off nicely at our Travis Baldree event at Vantage Point Brewing Company. We celebrated the paperback release of Brigands and Breadknives, the third book in his beloved Legends and Lattes series. We had a big stack of Blind Date books available, and our attendees contributed close to $400 to kick off our donations to the Innovia Wildfire Response Fund. That felt really good!
Booksellers from The Well-Read Moose with author Travis Baldree
Let’s work together to make a difference for our neighbors in Spokane – and Read On!
Read on!
Melissa and The Well~Read Moose Bookselling Team
