It takes a village to support a community

Over the years, some locals referred to Estes Park as Estes Village.

In the early days of the town’s history, the village would refer to the town center, a few blocks of stores and services that would support the regional residents making a living as guides, ranchers and proprietors of shops and lodges.

Because of the remoteness of the valley, with limited access points up rough routes that could barely be described as roads, the locals supported each other in time of need and as community members throughout the year.

That tradition of community support continues today in Estes Park.

National Philanthropy Day is celebrated on Nov. 21 in Estes Park. Each year, the Estes Nonprofit Network hosts the event to celebrate the generosity of local businesses, individuals and non-profits who make selfless commitments throughout the year for the benefit of local community members. During the event, awards are given for Youth, Business, Enduring Service, Katie Speer Individual Philanthropist of the Year, and the Shavlik Nonprofit of the Year.

The recognition given to awardees stems from the generous donations of time, money, and initiative for their efforts to create strong spokes of the community wheel.

One such example of the efforts being provided in Estes Park highlights the work the Estes Park Mountain Shop, Kent Mountain Adventure Center, and the Estes Park Education Foundation do to support the students of the community.

“It is really a benefit of the wide variety of the community, which is our community as well regarding our patrons,” said Zack Zehr, owner of the Estes Park Mountain Shop and a board member for EPEF. “Lately with all of our small special event promotions, it is really easy to put it back into the Education Foundation because that goes to youth and the outdoors, and it is a very local piece.”

Some of the events held in Estes Park that benefit Estes Park youth include Pumpkins and Pilsners each October and the recent airing of The Devil’s Climb at the Historic Park Theatre. The movie showing sold out on both nights, with all proceeds, including ticket sales, food and beverage sales and a donation jar, being donated to the Education Foundation.

Upcoming events to benefit EPEF include a wax night to smooth out the skis on Dec. 6 at the Mountain Shop, an airing of the ski film Calm Beneath Castles coming up on Dec. 7 at the Historic Park Theatre and the highly anticipated Estes Park Ski Jor event Jan. 25 and 26.

These types of events and the generosity of community members culminated in more than $100,000 for EPEF that was used by Estes Park schools in the 2023-2024 fiscal year. Their fiscal year coincides with the school year.

“Our goal is connecting the community support to support our public schools so our kids have more interesting educational opportunities,” said Peggy Mauerman, President of EPEF. “We want people to see the connection about good schools for a good community.”

According to Mauerman, EPEF sponsors projects and programs that go beyond school funding. Teachers, counselors, and staff from all of the Estes Park public schools can apply for grants from the Education Foundation at any time during the school year. Grant applications are reviewed twice a month.

Some of the programs and projects that have been supported by the EPEF include a freshman climbing day with KMAC; High School Adventure Ed, a program that included tackling the indoor rocking climbing wall at the Mountain Shop, biking outside, and cleanup around Lake Estes; supporting the Senior Spirit Squad, which included the purchase of yard signs encouraging drivers to honk for Estes Park seniors; funding the Elementary School Garden Club, which includes opening up opportunities for young children to embrace the importance of pollinators; and 27 other projects and programs for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years.

One of the Estes Park teachers that initiated a grant through EPEF was able to bring climbing back to Estes Park schools. Matthew Siler, who teaches 7th and 8th grade English in the Estes Park Middle School and is the head wrestling coach, wanted to see the return of climbing in Estes Park schools.

As a hub for world-class climbing, Estes Park has produced several professional climbers over the years. Siler wanted to encourage kids to try climbing again, and by applying for a grant, was able to establish a climbing club.

“This is the third year that we’ve had the climbing club,” said Siler. “We worked closely with KMAC and Zach [at the Mountain Shop], who said the climbing club would be a good applicant for a grant. We were in communication in how we could apply that grant to getting kids experience climbing outside. We scheduled two paid climbing adventures with KMAC, and then they offered us a third one for free to help get kids outside and climbing in a natural environment. The kids didn’t have to pay anything. The grant covered all the expenses.”

The Mountain Shop also provides free space and equipment for the club two days a week to learn bouldering and rope skills. KMAC helps kids not only get climbing experience, but they teach them how to be safe on the climbs and how to read the rocks.

“I really appreciate the Mountain Shop and KMAC for helping support us,” said Siler. “It’s been complete support from the community. It’s been really nice to help create something that is benefiting a lot of these kids.”

The spokes of the wheel continue to support the community. It takes all the spokes to keep the wheel in shape, and the Estes Park community, with more than 75 nonprofits, exemplifies that effort.

For more information about Estes Park’s National Philanthropy Day, click here. For more information about the Estes Park Education Foundation, click here.