July 19
Club Transition
At Susanne's Home
5:00-8:00
5020 Liberty Drive, Evergreen
Meet at Evergreen Library at 4:45 to carpool (limited parking)
Gate=5566
July 22
No Meeting
EPRD Summer Concert Series
4:30 PM - Grab your seats!
5:00-6:00 PM - Opening Talent!
6:30-8:00 PM - Headliner!
Jeff Goodwin and the Front Range Cowboys
Evergreen Lake House
July 26
Cindy Chase
District Governor
School Supply Drive
SPECIAL FEATURE
Mountain Foothills Rotary Club: Making a Real Difference Half a World Away
It has been said that Mountain Foothills Rotary is a small club with a big impact, and every club member can be justifiably proud of the impact our little club really does make. The new Rotary International President, Olayinka Babalola, has chosen “Make Lasting Impact” as the theme for his tenure. A program born in the imagination and hard work of Club member David Talbot really does create lasting impact in a powerful and life changing way for people half a world away.
Crutches 4 Africa is our Club’s most ambitious international program, and it was conceived when David and his wife Candice went on a Mission to Uganda in April 2005, and David, who himself relies on mobility aids to get around, was stunned to see conditions handicapped folks in Africa were forced to deal with everyday. Realizing that in the United States, people who have permanent or long term disability, as well as those of us who have needed mobility devices for a few weeks or months as a result of an injury, have good access to them. In fact, lots of people who have recovered from that broken hip or torn ACL have crutches in the basement, or out in the garage, ready to be hauled to the landfill the next spring cleaning. David’s idea was a simple one- “Why not take unwanted crutches, canes, walkers, wheelchairs and distribute them to people for whom they are truly life changing”
There are an estimated 20 million people in Africa who need some type of aid to mobility- don’t forget, we’re still working on eradicating Polio on the continent, and many conditions that could be easily treated in First World countries, both accidents and diseases, don’t get adequate care and become life long disabilities.
July 17 is the 21st anniversary of Crutches 4 Africa, and since the first shipment of mobility aids in 2006, more that 250,000 crutches, canes, walkers, wheelchairs, ski poles and more have been shipped – with the help of over 45 other Rotary Clubs around the country, to 34 countries, not just in Africa but far flung places like Mongolia and Christmas Island, where they had to be transferred to a schooner and ferried into the small harbor.
David and Candice work tirelessly promoting the cause, getting other Rotarians involved, helping load containers and spreading to word to Rotary Clubs all over the country, and David has an ambitious goal to raise $20,000 this summer.
With War in the middle east disrupting the normal flow of shipping and raising fuel prices, shipping costs have doubled and the normally challenging work of getting a container thousands of miles across the sea has become exponentially harder. I would like to thank David and Candice for all their work, and also thank the MFRC members, who can take pride in the contribution our little club has to Making Lasting Impact.
