Pagosa Springs Rotary Club
While a pandemic may shut down, close up and change our habits, it didn’t stop your local Rotary club from delivering their annual gift of colorful dictionaries to the elementary school third grade classes.
It was different to be sure. Typically, Rotarians have the joy of handing out the books to over 100 children and teaching them the benefits a dictionary can provide. The students find words and their meaning they never knew before, travel the world thru displays of international flags and learn our country’s history thru Presidential biographies. Though Rotarians were not able to enter the school this year, there is comfort in knowing the children received these books, once again.
This year has been a tough one for Rotary, as it has for most non-profits. The annual fund raisers Rotary has, such as the Casino Night and Barn Dance could not be held.
The funds derived from these events go toward local endeavors of not only the 3rd Grade Dictionary Project but also gifting $20,000 plus annually for high school scholarships, provide manpower and resources for the needed Backpack Program, pick up highway trash, place benches for those awaiting public transportation, endow teacher mini-grants to defray their expenses, donate monies and items to the Food Pantry, help fund the GGP Greenhouse Project, host foreign students for the Student Exchange Program plus send local students to study abroad, fund expenses for high school students to attend RYLA, a leadership training program and assist the town with the 4th of July Parade. Rewarding, fun and in some cases, life changers.
Your local Rotary supports Rotary International with eradicating Polio in the world and assisting other international communities with educational, medical and clean water systems.
In short, Rotary is paramount for supplying manpower and funds for our community and beyond. Looking toward the new year, Rotary looks forward to continuing supporting these needed causes. Rotary will gladly accept your donation at PO Box 685, Pagosa Springs, CO 81147 or thru any Rotarian. There remains a lot to be done in 2021.