A great summer for the Five Points Club

With the summer came a new Rotary year and a new President for our Club, Emily Shamsid-Deen. Emily's work with our Club leading up to the beginning of her term demonstrated that the Club was ready to jump in and start supporting our service area through hands-on projects. We began in July with our monthly project, Shots for Tots and Teens, at the Colorado Miners Community Center led by our Treasurer, Therese Rasmussen. Two weeks later, our Board Member at Large, Jamie Villareal, organized a school supply drive on August 9th for teachers at Cole Arts & Science Academy and Gilpin Montessori, two Denver Public Schools in our service area where teachers often have to go out of pocket to provide extra supplies to students in need (see photos here). Then, on August 13th, our Co-VP of Service, Sue Golding, encouraged Club members and their families to rise extra early on a Saturday morning and paint the house of a local resident in need through Brothers Redevelopment, who has used its Home Maintenance and Repair Program to repair and refurbish the homes of tens of thousands of disabled and elderly homeowners throughout the Denver metro area (see photos here).

Besides all the great work we accomplished, we also welcomed some wonderful speakers to our new meeting space at Fluid Coffee Bar. On July 19th, a representative of the Mayors Office of Sustainablity outlined the Greenprint project, which organizes neighbors to canvas their neighborhoods and educate their neighbors energy-saving programs such as free recycling and junk mail reduction. August 16th brought a very special guest, past Rotary International Vice President Tom Thorfinnson. Thom shared his vision for the future of Rotary and the importance of focusing on the core values that make Rotary such a vital organization. At the end of August, we welcomed District Governor Jim Halderman and his wife, Peggy on their rounds to all the District Clubs. We shared our successes, challenges, and plans for the year, and Jim shared his thoughts on Rotary's theme for this year, "Reach Within to Embrace Humanity."

Besides all the hard work, we also had fun! Our esteemed Rotarian Dave Hill organized a trip to see the Rockies on August 7th, complete with a birthday cake for one of our future Rotarians on his 3rd birthday. We will be enjoying an end-of-summer BBQ at Sue's house on Sept. 24th. As fall approaches, we are looking forward to more great service projects and fun with our fellow Rotarians and their families!