The Flatirons Rotary Club of Boulder recently celebrated its Charter Night Dinner commemorating the Clubs charter to operate as part of Rotary International. Twenty-two years ago, Boulder Rotary, led by Norris Hermsmeyer, helped found Flatirons Rotary. It is now one of the 35,000 Rotary clubs worldwide with 1.2 million Rotarians whose motto is “Service Above Self ”.
Joseph Pickett of Faith Furnishings was honored as part of the celebration.
Faith Furnishings is an outreach of the St. Andrew Presbyterian Church Mission Committee. It provides furnishings to individuals/families who are transitioning out of homelessness. Often people experiencing homelessness have nothing but their backpacks. Furnishings include furniture a well as items for kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms. This mission was named Faith Furnishings because while St. Andrew is the primary coordinator, other Boulder faith communities have donated furnishings, volunteer time and money.
As a tribute to Joseph Pickett, Flatirons Rotary President Jim Sible awarded Mr. Pickett the Club’s Annual ‘Spark Plug’ Award for the ‘Spark’ that Joe provides to Boulder County’s people experiencing homelessness. He sparked the idea to partner with the following agencies: Path to Home, Ready to Work, Mother House, Boulder Shelter for the Homeless, Mental Health Partners, Clinica, The Inn Between and Boulder Housing Partners just as Norris Hermsmeyer was the ‘Spark’ in initiating the Flatirons Rotary Club.
Faith Furnishings is grateful to ReMax in the Meadows Shopping Center for providing pickup or box trucks to help transport furnishings that are donated by individuals, faith groups, downsizing older adults, senior residential and memory care communities and realtors. As of this writing, 82 homes/apartments have been wholly or partly furnished by Faith Furnishings since its inception in December 2018.
As part of the entertainment during the Charter Night Dinner Annabelle Goff and Shanti Harrison performed piano duets to a delighted audience. Annabelle who attends Angevine has been playing piano for 7 years and Shanti who attends Dawson has been playing for 6 years.
Flatirons Rotary of Boulder is proud to partner with St. Andrew Presbyterian Church and the various agencies in their effort to solve the homelessness issues in Boulder.