Our usual Englewood Rotary activities and projects came to a screeching halt in March 2020 when the full brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic hit our country and our state.
Once our club was able to regroup by scheduling Zoom meetings in place of our regular in-person Wednesday meetings, an immediate topic of conversation was what could we as a club due to help those in the Englewood community more adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with all its disruptions to schools, jobs, and the community in general.
The club soon reached a consensus to seek voluntary contributions from our Rotary Club members to help fund a COVID Relief Fund to be run through the Englewood Rotary Foundation. The stated goal of the fund was to find agencies or organizations that would be providing pandemic related services and relief efforts in the greater Englewood community.
During the remainder of the 2019-2020 Rotary fiscal year the club members contributed $1,450 to the relief fund. This was through June 30, 2020. Then, in Rotary fiscal year 2020-2021, through June 30, 2021, the club members donated an additional $2,610 to the relief fund. In all, a total of $4,060 was contributed by a total of 15 club members.
From time to time during the16 months the project has been active the board of directors gave direction as to what community groups were to receive donations from the fund. We found IFCS, Integrated Family Community Services organization (formerly Inter-Faith), to be the ideal partner for our COVID-19 project, and for that reason all $4,060 was directed to IFCS and paid out through the Englewood Rotary Foundation.
During the pandemic, IFCS focused its energies on alleviating hunger, not just in the area it historically served (Englewood, Littleton, Sheridan, northern Douglas County), but beyond. Club volunteers Josh Staller, Dawn Shepherd, Gary Sears and Patty Burnett helped with a drive-through distribution of food in May. This coincided with the Day of Service initiated by Rotary District Governor Bob Kemp.
In other service, club members Linda and Bruce Spear, Josh Staller, Gary Sears and Scott Koland answered a Rotary district call for volunteers to assist at the 9Health COVID vaccination sites.
(Apologies if I've overlooked anyone. Let me hear. PB)
From Foundation funds prior to the designation of donations to COVID causes, we also provided about $800 in school supplies to Englewood Middle School, $1,000 for camp chairs for outdoor classrooms at Colorado’s Finest High School of Choice (the Englewood alternative school) and $500 for its lending closet. Vee and John Sabel and Patty Burnett were instrumental in the school supplies project. Josh Staller directed the efforts for Colorado’s Finest.
We lived Service Above Self in a pandemic.
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