One would allow the Peak Vista Caremobile to set up in the center's parking lot as needed to offer dental care to children. The other would create an ongoing nursing clinic at the center, according to Dick Siever, center director.
 Representatives of entities receiving Osborne Trust Fund grants for 2010 pose for a photo after attending the awards luncheon by the fund-administrating Garden of the Gods Rotary Club at the Rockrimmon Mason Jar Oct. 26. FRONT ROW (from left): Karen Knabl and Kathryn Blough, Woodland Park Community Cupboard; Mary Wiejaczka, Assistance League; Lynn Hopeman, Multiple Sclerosis Alliance; Pamela Polke and Mallory Underwood, Children's Literacy Center; and Lauren Weaver, Boys & Girls Club. MIDDLE ROW (from left): Andrea Timmer, Multiple Sclerosis Alliance; Mary Bielz, Community of Caring; Christine Lyle, Community Partnership for Child Development; Michon Lartigue, Pikes Peak Community Action Agency; Pamela Argo, Teller Senior Coalition; and Judi Hesselberg, Little Chapel Food Pantry. BACK ROW (from left): Sam Edwards, Catholic Charities; Karen Casey-Svetich, Community Partnership Family Resource Center; Lee Patke, Greccio Housing; Whitney Riley, Boy Scouts; David Shaffer, Silver Key Senior Services; Dick Wolf, Westside Community Center; John Demmon, Friends of Garden of the Gods; Charles Schroeder, Help the Needy; Steve Brown, Westside CARES; and Ken Hesselberg, Little Chapel Food Pantry. Westside Pioneer photo
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Leased by a Woodmen Valley Chapel limited liability corporation (LLC) since May 1, the city-owned center received a $10,000 Osborne grant. It was one of 19 grants awarding a total of $108,000 to 18 agencies at a luncheon by the Garden of the Gods Rotary Club Oct. 26.
This is the 26th year of the trust fund, which is structured to help the needy in a Westside/Teller County area as defined in Rotarian William Osborne's will after he and his wife died in 1985.
The Westside Center is one of four new Osborne recipients on the Westside this year. The others are the Boy Scouts - Pikes Peak Council, $2,000; Children's Literacy Center, $2,000; and Friends of Garden of the Gods (FOGG), $1,000. Boy Scout representative Whitney Riley said the stipend would help provide scholarships for camping programs. Mallory Underwood of the Literacy Center (which provides one-to-one tutoring for problem readers) said its share would bolster the programs now offered at the Old Colorado City Library. And, FOGG President John Demmon cited the volunteer organization's nature education programs for children at the Garden of the Gods Visitor & Nature Center.
Returning beneficiaries with Westside locations are Westside CARES, $28,000; Silver Key Senior Services, $10,000; Pikes Peak Community Action Agency (Billie Spielman Center), $8,000; the Boys & Girls Club (El Pomar Unit), $1,500; Community Partnership for Child Development, $1,000; and Greccio Housing, $1,000.
Other grant recipients this year either serve the Westside in part (Assistance League, $3,500; Catholic Charities (two grants), $4,000 and $3,000; and Multiple Sclerosis Alliance, $5,000) or are located up Ute Pass (Community of Caring - Cripple Creek, $10,000; Community Partnership Family Resource Center - Divide, $1,000; Help the Needy - Woodland Park, $3,500; Little Chapel Food Pantry, $3,000; Teller Senior Coalition, $2,500; and Woodland Park Community Cupboard, $8,000).
Siever could not predict how soon either of the Westside Community Center's planned health amenities will take shape, but said the Osborne grant allows preparations to start. These involve installation of a major electrical outlet that the Peak Vista unit can use to power its machinery (instead of relying on a generator) and continuing organizational talks with potential partners in the nursing clinic.
The Osbornes ran a pharmacy for many years in Old Colorado City, with Bill Osborne also helping start the Garden of the Gods Rotary and Pikes Peak National Bank.
The will directs the GoG Rotary to award trust fund earnings (the interest on about $3 million from fund investments) to applicants most able to directly help people in need. The application reviewers are the 10 past GoG Rotary presidents (also a stipulation of the will)
The $108,000 total this year is a noticeable drop-off from what was available at last year's banquet ($127,500). This reflects a weak economy, explained fund administrator Jean Foran. However, she noted that under the Osborne will's complex directions there is a one-year lag, during which the interest itself draws interest for the Pikes Peak Area Rotary Endowment (PPARE), which donates those earnings (around $5,000) to civic causes on behalf of the region's different Rotary clubs.
Current Rotary President Donna Sawaya said the tighter money situation led to closer scrutiny than ever. “Because we didn't have a lot of money this year, we looked very carefully at the grants,” she emphasized.
Westside Pioneer article