Denver Southeast Rotary-Sponsored Class Begins Their Transition into College
Published September 5th, 2008
Denver Students Overcome “Impossible” Odds
Denver Southeast Rotary-Sponsored Class Begins Their Transition into College
Denver, CO, September 4, 2008 – Nine years ago, Denver Southeast Rotary, one of the largest and oldest service organizations in the world, teamed up with the Colorado “I Have a Dream”® Foundation (CIHAD). The intent was to ensure that a depressing statistic by a local Denver elementary school principal that only ten percent of her 4th graders at Fairview Elementary school traditionally go on to complete high school would be reversed.
Today, almost 70 percent of those students have or will graduate from high school, and more than half of them are making plans to attend college with the help of Denver Southeast Rotary donations.
In 1999, the struggling Denver school in the Sun Valley neighborhood had many obstacles in its way. The area had—and continues to have–the worst socio-economic demographics in Denver. The average household income is roughly $12,434 and 79 percent of the children are living in poverty.
Today, almost seven times the anticipated number of the Southeast Denver Rotary Class of 2008 will complete their high school studies than would have without the program. Some of the students will graduate next year or with GEDs. The Rotarians and the CIHAD Board raised enough money to be able to provide $2,400 each year for four years for each of the students to attend college.
“Every one of the 100 Denver Southeast Rotarians had either donated to the class or been directly involved with the Dreamers through after-school programming, mentoring or hosting job shadow days,” said Doyle Tinkey, President of the Denver Southeast Rotary. “The Rotary is truly proud of what these students have been able to accomplish despite the long-odds of success that was given to them. We look forward to watching them excel in college and achieve their dreams.”
The program by I Have A Dream assists whole classrooms of children from low-income communities to achieve their education and career goals by providing a 10-year program of mentoring, academic assistance, life skills development, enrichment, and tuition assistance for higher education.
“The commitment of Southeast Rotary for the long haul is exactly what makes this I Have A Dream program work. It underscores the power of relationships over time in the lives of youth—no matter how many risk factors they are dealing with. And these kids had a lot,” said Mary Hanewall, Executive Director of Colorado “I Have A Dream”® Foundation.
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About Rotary International: Rotary is one of the largest and oldest service organizations in the world with approximately 1.2 million members who belong to over 33,000 clubs in approximately 170 nations. Rotary International celebrated its 100 anniversary in 2005. The Rotary Club of Denver Southeast is approximately 20 years old and has 115 members. Rotary is widely known for eradicating polio. During the past 18 years, Rotarians from around the globe have donated approximately $500 million dollars and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours to immunize approximately 2 billion children with the polio vaccine. Rotary’s international, polio eradication program is one of the largest non-government, health and humanitarian events in recorded history. As a result, polio only exists in four nations, whereas 18 years ago, polio existed in over 40 countries. Rotary is also known for creating the first global, Master’s degree program in conflict resolution, hosting the largest international student and adult exchange scholarship program in the world, and for performing thousands of local community service projects, including financially supporting after-school programs and domestic violence shelters, constructing water wells, and countless other activities to build international and local goodwill.
About Colorado “I Have a Dream”® Foundation: Colorado “I Have A Dream”® Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose vision is the 100% graduation of students in the Denver area.
