In Perpetuity
A few years ago, when Children's Hospital of Colorado issued an emergency call for help in stemming the leading cause of death for kids and young adults in the state, a small group of Highlands Ranch Rotarians answered.
They formed the Pediatric Mental Health Committee and set an ambitious goal: to raise enough money to fund, in perpetuity, a psychiatric fellow at Children's Hospital — a doctor who would see more than a thousand patients a year, providing counseling and, when needed, medication, and treating not just the child but the whole family. Suicide is a sad and permanent (for the victim only) solution to what should be viewed as temporary problems.
The impetus came from Shrin Murthy, who volunteered at Children's and persuaded Debby Doig, Tamie Fenell, and Jeannie Taylor to join him on what felt at times like a Quixotic journey.
It meant driving lots of miles and giving lots of smiles, visiting Rotary Clubs across Colorado to share the need — and to make clear that the credit would belong to all of Colorado's Rotary clubs, not just the one that spearheaded it.
The approach worked. Together, the clubs raised more than half a million dollars, enough to seed the Fellowship. More than half of that total came from the Rotary Club of Highlands Ranch itself.
The effects continue today. The Fellowship account now exceeds $700,000, and at a recent Noon Club meeting, members heard from their third fellow, Dr. Amelia Abbot-Frey who compared our efforts to that of bakers who provide sustenance for their communities— a living reminder of what that statewide effort set in motion, not just a roadside rest stop, but an infrastructure that gives succor and goes on hour-by-hour, day-by-day, year-by-year. It’s an amazing example of what Rotarians are able to do.
