KALISPELL, Mont. — Evergreen will be constructing almost 6 miles of sidewalk after receiving a grant from Montana Department of Transportation totaling $984,881.

With money to fund the project, it was up to the community to raise $50,000 for engineering costs and initial project expenses or fear the project would get scrapped.

The Evergreen Chamber of Commerce and Evergreen Community Partners worked together to raise the $50,000 needed by Dec. 1 to ensure it would happen.

"We thought we could do it, but it was going to be biting nails to get there, and we were trying to figure out what are the different things we can be doing between now and then,” said Darla Harmon, president of Evergreen Community Partners.

They were able to raise $30,000 but still had a ways to go before they met their goal. Little did they know they were about to receive a major donation. A church that is new to the valley only four weeks old reached out to their members asking for a hand.

The Trailhead Church was able to raise over $35,000 in under a week for the project.

“I was thinking a couple thousand dollars, but I told our church, 'Man, I want this to be our biggest offering ever,'” said lead pastor Chris Hornbrook.

“It was really cool just seeing the people when I shared about us. We want to be a church that actually meets needs in our community -- people kind of sat straight up in their chairs and their eyes got big.”

There are six locations throughout Evergreen that will be getting sidewalks.

Any extra funds from the $65,000 raised will be made out to the community members or businesses that provided funding.

by Dominic Vitiello
https://nbcmontana.com/news/local/evergreen-commits-to-safe-routes-to-school-sidewalk-project