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Due to the covi

d spike in our region, our first two meetings of the year will be all virtual via Zoom. We hope to have a special in-person gathering at Ah Haa school of the arts for our February 2 meeting, and then begin meeting at the Elks Lodge after that. On Wednesday, January 19, 5:30 - 6:30pm, we'll have a Zoom gathering with special guest speakers from Panama. Former Telluride Rotarians Linda and Doug Avery, who moved to Panama last year, will rejoin us, along with their new club's leader Jeff Flynn of the Rotary Club of Boquete, Panama. We'll hear an update on their service project, which our club supported with a $3000 grant, to aid midwives and improve maternal and child health among the indigenous population in rural western Panama. Email telluriderotary@gmail.com to rsvp and gain a Zoom link.

On January 5, we kicked off the new year with a robust meeting via Zoom featuring guest speaker Cara Pallone (pictured at left), executive director of KOTO FM. We heard about the community radio's mission and growth, and how KOTO—like Telluride Rotary—builds community and promotes service.

Thank you to the speakers who make our meetings so informative and interesting! If you are interested in being a guest speaker at our club's gatherings, please email telluriderotary@gmail.com. Click Read More to see the list of guest speakers from 2021.

Update on Rotary Youth Exchange - Host Families Needed

Telluride Rotary Club is excited to bring back our club’s participation in Rotary Youth Exchange for the 2022-23 school year, after a two-year hiatus due to covid. The Telluride community has a long tradition of sending local high school students abroad for a year of study and hosting foreign exchange students, whose presence enriches the classrooms and community by sharing their perspectives and culture. Through Rotary Youth Exchange, Rotary clubs build cross-cultural ties and create international ambassadors of goodwill and understanding.

To make this great program happen in the coming school year, our club must find host families for an inbound foreign student; otherwise, we cannot send a local student abroad, because the program functions as a two-way exchange. We need at least three households to volunteer to host a high school student for approximately 3.5 months, providing room and board. Rotary pays for the inbound student's school and incidental expenses, so the financial burden on the host family is minimal. This is an enriching experience for any household, as you share your family traditions and American culture while learning about theirs. While it is optimal to have host families with a student at Telluride Middle/High School, it’s not necessary; host families can have younger children, be empty-nesters or be single parents. Hosting takes place during these flexible time frames: early August through Thanksgiving; Thanksgiving through February: March through mid-June.

If this is an opportunity that interests you, please contact our club’s Rotary Youth Exchange Officer Patricia Kiernan, kiernanpatricia6@gmail.com or 619-517-5336, soon; or you may direct general questions to telluriderotary@gmail.com. Find out more about Rotary Youth Exchange and being a host family at mountainandplainsrye.com.

Pictured at right: 2019-20 youth exchange student Maile Silva of Telluride High who studied in the Czech Republic & Slovakia.

Recent Telluride Rotary Club Donations

At our first meeting of the new year, January 5, our club approved granting $1000 to support the Telluride Medical Center's covid fund for staff support; $500 to the ShelterBox disaster relief organization; and $500 for the Telluride AIDS Benefit Student Fashion Show.

In November, our club unanimously supported a $500 donation to Angel Baskets to support the Telluride Food Pantry, and we also set up a food donation bin in Village Market.

Earlier in the year, our club sponsored the September 26 Out of the Darkness Southwest Colorado Walk for suicide awareness. In addition to making a financial donation, our club invited the organizer to speak to our club about mental health and suicide prevention.

Earlier in the year, club members supported the International Service Committee’s recommendation to donate $3000 to support the Manchichi Project of the Rotary Club of Boquete, Panama. This project aims to reduce maternal and infant mortality by implementing an empowerment-based program that trains and equips local indigenous midwives.

In spring, our club also awarded $400 to the local chapter of the nonprofit Addict II Athlete to help the group purchase new shoes and other athletic gear for its participants.

Since mid-2020, Telluride Rotary also has supported:

Telluride AIDS Benefit Student Fashion Show
Norwood Fire Protection for new equipment in its ambulance
Telluride School District for “PE Gym Bags” for at-home physical education during the pandemic
Telluride School District for video conferencing equipment to improve hybrid classroom/at-home learning during the pandemic

Please Support Telluride Rotary Scholarships

Telluride Rotary is seeking donations to support scholarships for deserving college-bound high school seniors from Telluride and Norwood. Would you please consider making a donation through the Donate Now button on our website menu? You may also donate other ways; please see below.

Last year, our club awarded $2000 to Rowen Kelly Warren (pictured here), an exceptional graduate of Telluride High, so he could study Engineering at CU Boulder. “I was able to pay 90 percent of my tuition by using a mix of local and national scholarships, and supplement the rest from my savings, without having to take out a loan,” says Rowen. “It is a wonderful relief to know that I do not have to worry about paying off a balance. Scholarships like the Rotary Scholarship didn’t just enable me to go to an amazing college, but also gave me peace of mind and allowed me to focus on what matters.”

“For as long as I can remember, the Telluride Rotary Club has been an active and vital participant in our Local Scholarship Night,” says Karen Lavender, who retired last year as college counselor at Telluride High. “These scholarships have proved essential in terms of ‘gap funding’—that is, helping students and their families cover the gap between the actual cost of college and the financial aid they receive from the institutions to which they matriculate. These scholarships have time and again allowed our local youth to realize their highest aspirations for higher education. I am so grateful for Rotary’s support!”

Could you make a difference in a high school student’s life by making a tax-deductible donationto the Telluride Rotary Foundation for scholarships? In addition to giving through our Donate Now button, you may mail a check made out to Telluride Rotary Foundation with "scholarships" in the memo line and mail to PO Box 1265, Telluride, CO 81435. Or you may donate through Venmo @T-ride_Rotary_Foundation and indicate “scholarships” with the payment.

Last spring, Telluride Rotary awarded three scholarships to graduating seniors for 2021. (Please click Read More for details.)

Sarah Lavender Smith

Hello, and thank you for visiting Telluride Rotary’s site to learn more about our club. I’m gratified to have been elected the club’s president for 2021-22. My goals for Telluride Rotary’s 76th year include:

making Rotary membership more fun and meaningful through in-person fellowship, engaging speakers, outdoor activities and hands-on service
raising more money for service projects and scholarships through fundraisers
strengthening support for the community’s youth and restarting our club’s participation in Rotary Youth Exchange (sending a high school student abroad, and hosting a foreign student), which has been on hiatus since the pandemic
continuing our club’s commitment to community service and environmental awareness and action
supporting Rotary International and representing its mission and values.

A bit about me: I have been a part-time resident of Telluride since childhood, because my family roots are here, and my husband and I moved here year-round in 2019. I joined Telluride Rotary because my dad was a lifelong Rotarian and active in Telluride Rotary, which made a positive impression on me. I’m a freelance writer, author, running coach, dedicated ultrarunner and mom of two grown kids.

Telluride Rotary offers a rewarding way to give back to the community and to network. Our members span from young adults to seniors, from varied backgrounds, united in a belief in the motto “Service Above Self.” Contact telluriderotary@gmail.com if you have any questions or if you’re interested in attending a meeting as a guest. Also, see this June 17 feature article about the club in the Telluride Daily Planet for more info.

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Challenge from a Champion

We meet In Person & Online

Wednesdays at 5:30 PM

Elks Lodge

472 W Pacific Ave.
Telluride, CO 81435
United States of America

Starting in January, we will meet at the Elks Lodge, 472 W Pacific Ave. Arrive closer to 5 to enjoy drinks and socialize; meeting runs from 5:30 - 6:30. Zoom option available for remote attendees.

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