Last August, our club received a tremendous honor — recognition in Rotary International Magazine for serving over 200,000 meals to members of our community. That project began with the vision of a single Rotarian, Deb Hage, and grew into a countywide movement of compassion and service. It is a very rare distinction for any Rotary Club to be featured in the magazine — a moment we can all be proud of.

And now, it’s happened again!

Just last night, we learned that our club will once again be featured in an upcoming issue of Rotary International Magazine — this time for our EPIC Day of Service project: gifting a fully built storage shed to Timberline Adult Day Services. This effort was also inspired and led by a single Rotarian, Joan Tilden, whose determination and leadership brought together many other Rotarians, including a returning YE student, and dozens of partners across the community to make the impossible happen.

You may recall our participation in the Rotary EPIC Day of Service this past May. Under Joan’s watchful eye (and occasional iron fist!), our club set out to solve a costly problem — the nearly $4,000 annual storage fee we had been paying for Timberline to store donated mobility equipment used by people recovering from surgery.

With over 50 volunteers, $500 raised through the EPIC Day website, and more than $10,000 in donated labor and materials from generous community partners, we created an on-site storage shed that now houses hundreds of mobility items — all freely available to those in need.

This incredible outcome was only possible through the spirit of collaboration that defines Rotary:

• Summit County Community and Senior Center helped us secure building approval by keeping the footprint to 10’x12’, thus saving us costly and time-consuming permits.

• Summit High School’s Career & Technical Education students — 40+ young builders (male and female) — constructed the entire shed over six weeks.

• Colorado Building Supply and six vendor partners provided all materials at no cost.

• Rotarians, Habitat for Humanity volunteers, and even a returning Rotary Youth Exchange student built the foundation by hand, using donated timber, gravel, and cement blocks.

• And finally, three local businesses contributed heavy equipment — including a flatbed truck and a four-story crane — to move and lift the shed into place.

The total project, valued at over $10,000 and hundreds of volunteer hours, stands as a shining example of what can happen when compassion, collaboration, and community unite around a shared purpose.

This project didn’t just save Rotary money and Timberline travel expenses — it created lasting impact for the people of Summit County. It represents the very heart of Rotary Service: seeing a need, taking action, and inspiring others to join in.

So today, let’s take a moment to celebrate who we are — We are Rotarians.