It's a new year and Summit County rang it in with it's typical torch light parades and Big Air competitions. The snow here isn't setting any records but we did have a white Christmas. 
Over the past year, Summit County residents poured life into humanitarian aide projects all over the world. Recently the Summit Daily News highlighted philanthropist Doug Mendel and his recent efforts in Cambodia. With a remarkable stroke of good tidings Doug managed not only to deliver a firetruck donated by the Breckenridge Red, White and Blue Fire Protection District to the Sihanoukville Fire Station in Southern Cambodia, but he also outfitted them with all the necessary gear. Every bit of this was donated. Doug transports the gear to Cambodia, buys inexpensive handmade Cambodian textiles and sells them stateside for profit, then pours that money back into his organization. In less than three years, he has raised $63,000, of which he estimates 90-95% of that has gone back to the Cambodians. See all the details here: The philanthropy doesn't stop there. Summit County has a strong Rotary Club. They donate $20K or more in local scholarships to the local high school annually. This year they collaborated on an extremely successful "Christmas gifts for Soldiers campaign." The organization sponsored an exchange program with Rotarian's in Arkansas and Oklahoma where 20 or more foreign teens from all over - Mexico, Japan, Brazil, come to America for a few months. One of the activities is a week long trip to our ski areas, where our Rotarian's teach them to ski. This is a quite a feat, since most of them have never seen snow, much less strap boards to their feet to charge down a mountain. Rotarian's sponsored a free Thanksgiving dinner for anyone who needed it. There were more volunteers to cook, serve and clean than were necessary - that's right - more volunteers on T-giving day than could be used. They successfully pulled off their 11th BBQ fundraiser. There was the Trikes on Bikes campaign, the Corvette Raffle, the Ice Melt fundraiser, the Red Ball fundraiser at A-Basin, the Ice Princess Ball, free or low cost health screenings at the Health Fair, the Snow Golf Tournament and so many more. There is even a Young Professionals Rotaract Club that recently solidified it's charter. The police department gave away 46 bikes, 365 skateboards, 350 helmets and 150 bike locks at an event headlined by the children's mobile fun house "The Big Red Bus". Read more: In 2005, the Town of Dillon donated $163,000 to local non-profits. And there 's the Summit Foundation, the Masonic Lodge, the Elks Club and a ton more I'm sure that I'm missing. Debrorah Haag is a local Rotarian in the County and he is the embodiment of humanitarian cause. Between adopting a slew of disadvantaged or abused children from other countries and spending countless hours rebuilding ghettos in other countries, she found the gumption to amass full storage garages of goods to ship to Haiti via the U.S. Air Force - skirting typical customs requirements - and they agreed to pay to get it there. Deborah, you are the best. It must be the lifestyle. As the saying goes, "if you're lucky enough to live in Summit County, you're lucky enough." Well Summit County knows it and gives back, with reckless abandon. Blog by Jason Brewer- Real estate Agent and President of the Summit County Rotaract Club |
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