2010 volunteerism
(Editor's note: For your information, the following summary of 2010 Loveland Fishing Club activities was submitted to Retired Senior Volunteer Program, http://www.voacolorado.org/Services/WeSupport/RSVPLarimerCounty/tabid/7819/Default.aspx
We fish, but we do a lot more.
Less than a decade ago, about a dozen Loveland area seniors got together and decided to form a club dedicated to fishing. Today the Loveland Fishing Club's 83 members are still fishing, but they've also evolved into one of the most active volunteer organizations around.
The club is perhaps best known for its rescue three years ago of the Loveland Kids Fishing Derby at North Lake Park, headed for apparent extinction with the retirement of the Loveland Police officer who'd managed it for years. In a few short weeks, club members solicited enough donations from area businesses and individuals to keep it a totally free event for kids through age 15, secured more than 3,000 trout from the Colorado Division of Wildlife, and awarded dozens of fishing outfits to anglers of all skill levels. Each spring the club organizes and secures enough money to keep the event thriving, with donations kept in a special account of the Loveland Parks and Recreation Foundation.
In addition, the club is known as the place to go for volunteers to teach kids how to fish. Since April 2010 alone, club members have taught their sport to Cub Scouts, to Girl Scouts at their annual day camps at Colorado Youth Outdoors facilities at Swift Ponds, Chilson Day Camp and the offspring of Parents Without Partners. The club also maintains an inventory of fishing gear, purchased with club funds, to ensure that no kid goes without proper equipment.
Working with LakeIce USA, club members also help raise money for therapeutic fishing trips for rehabilitating soldiers from Fort Carson.
Loveland Fishing Club is an affiliate of Chilson Senior Center and Loveland Parks and Recreation Foundation, and its fund-raising for volunteer activities is funneled to a 501 (c)(3) account managed by the foundation.
Aided by grants from the IBM Corporation totaling $4,000 over the past four
years, awarded in support of one of its retired employees (me, actually, the
club's webmaster) (http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ibmgives/grant/giving/fund.shtml),
the club has also worked in concert with the Division of Wildlife, Larimer
County Parks and Recreation in a variety of habitat improvement projects on
open space and lakes in the Loveland area.
These include belly boat launch ramps at Jayhawker Ponds in Loveland, a boat ramp at Lonetree Reservoir in a joint project with the DOW and Centennial Bass Club; and habitat improvement at Lon Hagler Reservoir. This year the club has committed its support for a DOW project to install fishing feeding equipment in local ponds, and provided $2,000 in matching money to secure a $20,250 federal Fishing Is Fun grant to improve handicap access to Flatiron Reservoir (Reporter-Herald article is http://www.reporterherald.com/news_story.asp?ID=29314
Loveland Fishing Club Community
Date (approx.) Activity
4-17-10 Assisted with Pancake Breakfast, Chilson
4-19 Cub Scout Fishing
4-22 Lon Hagler Clean up
4-28 Co sponsor Fly fishing film
Festival
4-30 Senior Garden spring clean up
6-5 Co sponsored Kids Fishing Darby
6-12 Big Thompson River Clean up
6-24/25/26 Girl Scout Fishing day Camp
7-14 Chilson day camp Kids Fishing
8-19 River Clean up Sleepy Hollow
9-22 Parents without Partners Fishing
11-5/6 Ski Swap Meet, Chilson center
124/5 Wounded Warrior fund raising
on going Safe access at Flat Iron Reservoir, through $20,000-plus Fishing is Fun grant obtained by the club through the Colorado Division of Wildlife "Fishing is Fun" program.