Where in ID are you at. There are 11 teams in S. ID, if you PM me your E-mail address I can pass it on to the coach of the nearest team who would most likely be glad to be your (sort of) local mentor team. I can also pass it along to the ID VISTA though she is located in N ID, but I'm certain she will be willing to help.
A couple of grants to apply for are NASA which gives priority to rookie teams. The info can be found here:
http://robotics.nasa.gov/ If you are going to use Lab View then NI has a grant and you can find the info here:
https://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-30321 but the funding will be too late to apply to this year's registration fee, but it can give you a start on next season or go to paying for this year's CMP, if you qualify. Being a rookie you will stand a very good chance if you are going to the Salt Lake regional, so far there is only one rookie team registered in UT and none in ID.
As far as gaining interest, one of the best ways to generate interest is to get someone to bring a robot to be demoed at lunch time (to get students) and at your open house (to get mentors). Of course it sounds like there may not be a team close enough to make that happen, so the best I could suggest is to find some videos and show them. Last years game animation and some video of matches being played would be good to gain student and mentor interest. To make a plea for mentors at an open house this video is hard to beat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1QyM9WTF18