LIFEST Y LES AN ADVERTISING SECTION OF EVERGREEN NEWSPAPERS | VOL. 13 ISSUE 7 • JULY 2021
Completing the Circle A Life of Giving and Gratitude
“A
t the end it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished. It’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.” Denzel Washington by Kristin Witt Special to Lifestyles
Over the years this section of our newspaper has highlighted volunteers and the magnificent work they do in our mountain communities. If it seems that we are determined to drive that point home it is because our volunteers and the countless hours they put in are quite literally the glue that holds it all together in Evergreen, Conifer, Bailey, Indian Hills, and the many bergs in between. In our mountain towns where there is limited or no government to run the show, the show must still go on, and it does, due to a cast of characters who do it for all the right reasons. The wheels are greased as it were, in our part of the
FEATURE
OF THE MONTH world, by thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars that are gained in large part through private donation as well as grant funding. Our ability to live as we do is literally dependent on the generosity in both time and resource of residents and businesses that count it a privilege to live as we do in the mountains we love. They are committed to making it all work and they apply themselves to the task despite running businesses and raising children and generally working for a living. There are no studies that tell us definitively what it is that compels a person to give to a cause, except to say
that being compelled isn’t really part of the equation. The reason for giving seems to lie somewhere between gratitude and responsibility with a strong sense of community thrown in. Bruce Anderson of Farmers Insurance says it this way. “I am blessed to own and operate a business in Evergreen, and the people here have trusted me overwhelmingly with their insurance needs. I believe that I have gained so much from this community, both personally and in the growth of my business, it is not just my responsibility to give back but my honor to be able to involve myself in the many organizations that make our area thrive.”
Please see COMMUNITY, Page 2