By 11 a.m. Friday morning, an intrepid group of volunteers with the Estes Park Quota Club moved the contents of the club’s loan closet lock, stock, and barrel – or more precisely hospital beds, wheelchairs, walkers, commodes, file cabinets, and its roll top desk – into its new location at 1140 Manford Ave.
The club, which operates a loan closet of 624 pieces of durable medical equipment for residents and visitors, was forced to vacate its location in a residential home owned by Estes Park Health after the Town of Estes Park set a deadline, citing zoning that allows only single-family use.
The club had used the home’s garage since September, after Estes Park Health relocated the loan closet from a hospital-campus building where it had been housed since 2013 to the adjacent residential property. According to Travis Machalek, the Estes Park Town Administrator, the Town had informed the hospital on several occasions since March 2023 that the property was zoned for residential use only.
Since its founding 76 years ago, Quota Club has bought 21 ambulances for the hospital in addition to raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for hearing aids and speech therapy services for both youth and the elderly, and provided funds to Estes Park Health, Salud, Partners, the Prospect Park Living Center, the Estes Park Library, the Estes Park Museum, and other area nonprofits.
While located on the hospital campus, the nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization did not have to pay rent. Now, the group will pay $1,200 per month for its new 1,400-square-foot space, a $14,400 expense it did not previously incur.
Organizers hope to find sponsors to help cover the year-long lease as they assess the loan closet’s space needs and the convenience of its new location across from the Estes Park Events Complex.
In addition to the organization’s annual Festival of Trees fundraiser, it also hosts the Annual Taste of Estes, an evening of culinary creations by more than 20 local restaurants held at the YMCA of the Rockies and attended by more than 500 people.
Details on the date and time of the 2026 Taste of Estes will be announced soon.