CLUB NEWS & EVENTS 
Barbara Ulick, Program Director of Open Door, shared the inspiring work of this 10-year-old program, which equips English as a Second Language (ESL) students with the confidence and language skills needed to thrive in college, at work, and in everyday life. In addition to ESL instruction, the program offers High School Equivalency (HSE) classes covering math, science, social studies, and language arts.

With a team of 16 dedicated teachers, Open Door supports a linguistically diverse community—serving students who collectively speak more than 50 languages. The program collaborates with a wide range of community partners, and to date, over 9,000 students have benefited from its services.

Beyond academics, Open Door creates a space for connection—fostering relationships among students, staff, volunteers, and the broader community. Barbara emphasized the importance of volunteers, noting, "Every student who has had a volunteer coach has passed all their testing."

When asked about their current needs, Barbara shared a short list of school supplies. The Longmont Rotary Club responded quickly—delivering donations to their doorstep.  It’s clear that Open Door is not only opening minds but building bridges to opportunity.

The Rotary Club of Longmont is proud to share news of a recently approved District 5450 grant, supporting the delivery of 50 Hippo Rollers to five rural villages in northern Botswana. These villages, located within a 10-kilometer radius of Maun—the home of our partner club, Rotary Club of Okavango—represent some of the most water-insecure areas in the region.
So, what is a Hippo Roller™? Developed by a South African startup, the Hippo Roller is a durable plastic drum that holds up to 90 liters of water and can be rolled with ease using a simple handle. In many African villages, residents must walk long distances to fetch water—often balancing heavy jugs or buckets on their heads—just to access five gallons or less. With average household consumption around three gallons per day, the burden falls especially hard on the elderly, those with disabilities, and women accompanied by children.
 
In 2024, Longmont Rotary partnered with clubs in Botswana and fellow District 5450 clubs to pilot the use of Hippo Rollers in the remote village of Khwai. Working closely with local leadership and social workers, six residents were selected to participate based on age, physical ability, and their distance from the water source. After six months of use, our partners at Rotary Gaborone and Rotary Okavango conducted follow-up surveys to assess the impact on participants’ quality of life.  After this analysis, it was determined that additional Hippo Rollers would improve the quality of life and advance the development of other remote villages. 
One might ask, how did Longmont Rotary make these connections with Botswana? That relationship was formed thanks to Longmont Rotary Club member Andrew Lee, a wildlife photographer who visited Khwai on a photo safari with Natural Selection Travel. Inspired by the resilience of the community, Andy returned to Colorado and rallied support to establish a “Teaching Garden” in the village—a space for learning and food security.
Launched in June 2023, the garden project began with the drilling of a well and the installation of a solar-powered pump. Located on the grounds of the village preschool, the 50-by-80-foot garden aims to reintroduce gardening traditions lost over time. The villagers, once reliant on store-bought vegetables, now have a space to grow their food, re-learn farming skills, and foster greater community independence.
This initiative is a truly collaborative effort—led by the Rotary Club of Longmont and supported by the Boulder and Twin Peaks Rotary Clubs, with additional funding from District 5450’s matching grants. Together, these efforts are not just transforming access to water and food—they are sowing seeds of empowerment and hope in Botswana’s most vulnerable communities.
We heard from students from the SVVSD Innovation Center on how to protect ourselves from internet scams. Their program addressed Phishing (the art of enticing individuals to give our personal identification information), and types of common scams (i.e. IRS/Tax scams, Foreign Lottery, Tech support scams, malware).   ADVICE: Be cautious of unsolicited emails, messages, or requests for personal information or money, especially from unknown sources.  Second, ensure your devices and accounts are secure by using strong, unique passwords and enabling two-factor authentication whenever possible.  
  • Don't give out your password (and don't use the same password for multiple accounts)
  • Avoid accepting unknown friend requests.
  • Use a secured network, not public Wi-Fi, when signing into any accounts (especially your bank account)
  • Keep apps, browsers and antivirus software updated.
The EPIC DAY OF SERVICE will be held on Saturday, May 17th.  Rotary Districts and Clubs around the world will be a part of a global movement of action, impact, and unity. This EPIC Day of Service will unite more than 2,500 Rotary clubs and 75,000 Rotarians, community volunteers, and partners across the globe in a single day dedicated to making the world a better place.  Longmont Rotary will be partnering with Growing Gardens for their EPIC Service Day.

 
President Andy Lee presented a check to Lucy Mackuse on behalf of the YMCA. The $1000.00 check will be used to support their upcoming Bike Giveaway, scheduled for this Fall.
CU Graduate student Brittany Ashley introduced club members to the works of abstract artist, Clyfford Still.  His collection of work can be viewed at the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver.  
Brittany is a Master’s student in Art History at C.U in Boulder, completing her dissertation on Still's work. She has a deep appreciation for his art and his legacy in abstract form.  Her appreciation inspired her fiancee to propose marriage at the museum.  Clyfford Still (1904–1980) had a unique artistic vision and was unwilling to compromise it for money or recognition. Still thought the best way to experience his art was by seeing it all in one place. Designed specifically to display Clyfford Still’s work, the 28,500-square-foot museum is home to approximately 3,125 pieces representing more than 93% of his lifetime of work. 
Congratulations to Isabel Rosario, Isabel Rico, Carter Pensy, and Olivia Atherton for participating in the Young RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) program.   Each year, young people take part in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program worldwide. Young people are chosen for their leadership potential to attend an all-expenses-paid camp to discuss leadership skills and to learn those skills through practice.  "Young RYLA" targets middle school youth. Essentially, it's a RYLA program tailored for younger students to build leadership skills at an earlier age.
Olivia and Josh Atherton
Longmont Rotary After Hours meets twice a month on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month.  One meeting is by Zoom, and the other is in person with a guest speaker each month. Club members are welcome to attend these evening club meetings. 
  • April 9th- Wednesday, at 6 pm. This Zoom gathering will host guest speakers Jolene KcKenna and Debbie Setlock, District Membership co-chairs, talking about the options and evolution of Satellite clubs.
 
District leaders in Los Angeles, CA area have created a Wildfire Resource Page so clubs and partnering Districts can make a monetary donation, make resources available to those in need, seek resources and provide collaborative support in the ways of meals, water, blankets, etc. District 5450 received support from all over the country for the Marshall Fire - please visit their webpage to see how you can support their efforts: Wildfire Resource Page. Please note: our District will not be accepting donations for the California wildfires - you must make donations via their link.

Imagine carrying a 20-liter bucket (20kg) on your head for miles just to provide water for your family. This was the daily reality for many South African villagers—until the Hippo Roller changed everything.  Warrick Gibbs, son of Hippo Roller founder Grant Gibbs, recently spoke to the Longmont Rotary Club about this life-changing invention. The Hippo Roller is a durable plastic drum that holds 90 liters of water and can be easily wheeled using a simple handle. "I remember playing with it throughout my youth," Warrick shared.   For over 30 years, this South Africa-based social enterprise has been manufacturing and distributing Hippo Rollers with the support of sponsors and donors. Today, 65,000 Hippo Rollers are helping 650,000 people across 56 countries, delivering 2 billion liters of water annually.   The Longmont Rotary Club proudly supports this effort by purchasing Hippo Rollers for communities in Botswana. Learn more by visiting their WEBSITE.

              
Club Meeting Info
Longmont Rotary

Service Above Self

We meet In Person
Tuesdays at 12:00 p.m.
803 3rd Ave.
Longmont, CO 80501
United States
Our noon meetings are in-person and a buffet meal is provided. Lunch is served at 12pm. The actual meeting starts at 12:30 and ends at 1:30 pm. We also have a Satellite group that meets in the evenings. See website for details.
 Rotary Theme 
"Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change-across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves."
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Upcoming Programs & Speakers
Paul Flanders
Apr 22, 2025
Earth Day
Kimberly McGee
Apr 29, 2025
Longmont Downtown Development Authority
John Chandler
May 06, 2025
Colorado History with Music
Josh Atherton
May 13, 2025
Compassion and Slick Haley Awards Presentation
Debby Paris
May 20, 2025
Kenyan Orphanage
Ralph Josephsohn
May 27, 2025
Crisis in the Middle East
Longmont Rotary connects with local Businesses
Jun 10, 2025
Rotary Business Day Out
Ryan Mason
Jun 17, 2025
Longmont Rotary Foundation
Click on the image above to learn about Longmont Rotary's Satellite Club. 
Satellite Club Serving the Community
Video clip-painting bowls for the upcoming OUR Center fundraiser
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Vocational & Community Service
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Growing Gardens Work Day
Rotary Service In Action
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