Golden West Pioneer Giving and Volunteering Did you know that the TelecomPioneers is the largest corporate volunteer group in the world? The Golden West Pioneer Council is proud to be part of this organization. Our corporate sponser, Qwest Communications, provides us with support funding for many of our volunteer projects. Volunteer hours are reported each month on a PA7 form and sent into our chapter headquarters. Our continued support from our chapter and region are based upon our reported volunteer hours. Presently, the Golden West Council has four very nice volunteer and giving projects that are active: "I Like Me Books" for Kindergarten Children White Eraseable Boards for School Students Adoptive Families -- 2009 Check for $1000.00 Presented to Fruita 8-9 School's Library Okay, let's talk about these projects. I Like Me Books "I Like Me Books" are personalized books for kindergarten children. Books are ordered and distributed for each child in a kindergarten class. The books are made personal by some up-front effort by Golden West Pioneers, teachers, and principals. Each book, when given to the child, contains their own name, two of their classmates names, teachers name, principals name, and which organizations sponsor the books (e.g. provide funding). The Golden West Council can be very proud of being the #1 council/club in the state of Colorado for the number of books ordered and distributed. Dave Collard, Golden West Pioneer, heads up the project for our council. He has been doing this for about 11 years. The number of books ordered and distributed has grown each year. For the 2008-2009 school year, over 700 books are being delivered to schools in Collbran, De Beque, Fruitvale, Grand Junction, Fruita, Palisade, Delta, and Montrose. The "I Like Me Books" budget for the 2008-2009 year is over $5600.00. TelecomPioneers contributed about $2000.00 of the funds for this project. Altrusa organizations of Grand Junction and Palisade, Western Rockies Federal Credit Union, Grand Junction Altrusa, Junction Bell Credit Union, the Collbran Lions Club, and the Montrose School District are all financial sponsors. Four Golden West Pioneers and 4 representatives from the the Altrusa Palisade Organization were present for the delivery of the "I Like Me Books" at Taylor Elementary School, Palisade, CO, on Thursday, March 29, 2007. The children were very happy to receive their very own book, and lots of hugs were given by them. Rebecca Watson, 1 of the kindergarten teachers at Taylor Elementary, has been involved with the "I Like Me" book program since its beginning at Taylor in 1998. She has taught the children to say thank you to Altrusa Palisade and the Golden West Pioneers in 4 different ways (1) To say "Thank You," (2) To give hugs, (3) To give smiles, and (4) to sing us a a song. The song is titled "I Am Very Special." The children act out body parts as they are presented in the lyrics of the song. In the following photo, the children are acting out the 10 toes that each of them have by putting their feet up into the air. Kindergarten Class at Taylor Elementary, Palisade, CO

Vern Wheeler, author and publisher of the "I Like Me" books, honored us with his presence during the week of February 20, 2005. Vern was able to attend three "I Like Me" book presentations to the kindergarten children during his visit. Vern developed the "I Like Me" book as a tribute to his father, who passed away in his early 60's. Approximately 3,000,000 personalized books have been produced and distributed to young age school kids since the books were published in the early 1990's. Vern and his wife Carol, who is a big help to him in the production process, live in Topeka, Kansas.

At the Banquet

On the evening of February 24, 2005 our council honored Vern with a banquet in Grand Junction, CO. Most of the Golden West Council Board Members, along with a few special guests, attended the affair. Vern told some heart warming stories about how the "I Like Me" book got started, and pointed out some of the trials and tribulations that took place during the course of its history. In the photograph to the left are a few of the banquet attendees. Shown from left to right are Gayle Griffin, Phyllis Carroll, Dave Collard, and Vern Wheeler.

White Eraseable Boards for School Students

The Golden West Pioneeers are beginning to produce and deliver "white boards" to local school students. The white boards are cut into smaller pieces by a local lumber yard. Each board is approximately 9" by 11 1/2" in size. The boards are then delivered to schools on a per class basis. When the teacher interacts with class members and asks questions, each student can write their reponse on the white board with an eraseable marker and hold it up so the teacher can see the students response to the question. This project is just getting started here in the Grand Junction area and is headed up by our Council President, Bernie Vahling. To learn more about the project or get involved, contact Bernie.

Adoptive Families -- 2009

This will be a great Christmas of giving for the Qwest Pioneers. Qwest Pioneers, Colorado Chapter donated $2000.00 to the Golden West Council to be used for adoptive families in the western slope for Christmas giving. The Golden West Council added to the chapters $2000.00 with a donation of $1000.00 for a total of $3000.00 for giving. In a board meeting on November 9, 2008 it was decided to distribute the $3000.00 as follows:

$500.00 to Grand Junction Community Food Bank

$400.00 to Montrose Food Bank

$400.00 to Palisade Altrusa

$300.00 to Fruita Agape Food Bank

The remaining $1400.00 was spent on adoptive families in the Grand Junction area, and were distributed as follows:

$400.00 to Golden West Active Employees Project

$300.00 to a family of 4

$300.00 to 2 single fathers and sons

$200.00 A mother and 3 sons family

$200.00 food baskets, gift wraps, etc.

On the evening of December 14th, 7 Qwest Pioneers along with some of their children gathered at the Qwest building at 800 Main St. to wrap gifts for the adoptive family project. This project is well supported by active Qwest Pioneers who work at this location. Thanks to all for your support. In the photo below, Judy Shelp (who headed up the giving) and Mary Lou Stevens are shown.

December 14,2009 Gift Wrapping Session

Check for $1000.00 Presented to Fruita's School's Library

Thank You Qwest Pioneers, Colorado Chapter, for making $1000.00 available to the Golden West Council to support our Fruita 8-9 Library. Fruita 8-9 School is located in Clifton, Colorado. The check was presented on June 8, 2009 to the Librarian Pam Middlemas by Jerry Wilds, Golden West Council President. Also present was Crystal Loehr, Fruita's 8-9 School Principal

Pam said that the check would be used to purchase new books for the students, and all present said that that was a great use of the money.