What we do
Annually, the Kiwanis Club of Durango actively participates in various fundraising and service projects. Here are some highlight of what we do:
- Pancake Day--our biggest fundraiser
- The Bill Mashaw Charity Golf Tournament--another fundraiser for Kiwanis Club of Durango
- Support for the Boys & Girls Club
- Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
- Safety Day
Safety Day
Creating Safe Citizens: Every year the Kiwanis Club of Durango hosts 2nd graders in Durango and Bayfield to:
- Learn to be safe in the world: From traffic and fire safety to utility safety, professionals from around La Plata County share how to be safe in their environment.
- Developing Lifelong Habits: Teaching safety early instills lifelong habits, ensuring children grow into responsible and safety-conscious adults.
- Promoting Confidence: Knowing how to be safe around the house and the world promotes confidence through knowledge.
The annual Safety event presented by Kiwanis Club of Durango provides a day of learning, fun, and community bonding. It's more than just an event; it's a commitment to creating a safer, more informed generation of citizens .We look forward to seeing the youth of La Plata County at this exciting event.
Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
The Dollywood Foundation was created in 1988 by Dolly Parton to inspire the children in her home county to achieve educational success. Initial efforts focused on decreasing the dropout rate in the county’s high school. In the early 1990’s, Dolly promised every 7th grade and 8th grade student $500 if they successfully graduated from high school. This effort, called the Buddy Program, reduced the dropout rate for these two classes from 35% to 6%. More importantly, the program catalyzed the community to provide additional resources to sustain this improvement in the dropout rate.
In 1995, Dolly created her Imagination Library in Sevier County, Tennessee. This monthly book gifting program for children under the age of five was originally designed to inspire a love of reading and learning for all preschool children in the county. What was founded as a local program became such a success that in 2000 a national replication effort was underway, and by 2003 Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library had mailed one million books. It would prove to be the first of many millions of books sent to children around the world.
The Kiwanis Club of Durango is the local program partner for Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in Durango. You can still register if you live outside of the Durango ZIP Codes through the Imagination LIbrary.
Raise Money
The Kiwanis Club of Durango currently runs two fundraisers per year: the Bill Mashaw Charity Golf Tournament--usually in August and Pancake Day--usually the third Saturday in September.
All the proceeds from these two events stay right here in La Plata County. None of the funds are used to run the club, but go back into the may organizations and events we give to. Your support of these events help us multiply your funds into meaningful donations to help run these organizations.