Altrusa of Montrose awarded $1000 grant for Lifeline

Alice Vest, Chair of the Lifeline committee, accepts the grant from Diane Winger, President of Altrusa of Montrose. Not Pictured: Erin Berge, grant writer, Grants & Bequests Chair

Altrusa International, Inc. of Montrose, Colorado is honored to be able to present their Lifeline project with a $1,000 grant from the Altrusa International Foundation. Altrusa's Lifeline Project will use this grant to purchase and maintain medical alert devices for senior citizens who are living at home, usually alone, and at risk of needing emergency assistance. This device is activated with a button worn on a pendant or wrist to summon immediate help. Having this invaluable service gives senior citizens the security and peace of mind knowing that help is not too far away when they need it.

Diane Winger, Altrusa Club President, states that grants of $250-$2,000 are available through sponsoring Altrusa Clubs from the Altrusa International Foundation, Inc. to improve the economic well-being and quality of life through the Foundation's commitment to community service and literacy.

Established as a charitable corporation in 1962, the Foundation is committed to the service goals and objectives of Altrusa International, Inc. Its sole purpose is to be an avenue through which Altrusans can assist Altrusa Clubs and other worthy organizations, throughout the world, to carry out their programs of community service and assistance to individuals in need.

Funding is provided by voluntary contributions from Altrusa members, Altrusa Clubs and the general public.

Altrusa Golf Tournament results

Altrusa Club of Montrose Foundation held a successful golf tournament on Saturday, June 5 at Black Canyon Golf Club. Approximately $5,500 was raised to benefit their Lifeline project. Altrusa currently helps over 100 people in our area remain safely in their own homes by purchasing, installing, and servicing Lifeline units in the homes of elderly or homebound residents. Lifeline provides access via a portable unit — a pendant or bracelet with a button — to a 24-hour emergency response system.

Tournament Results:
Closest to pin - (W) Phoebe Benziger, (M) Rick Sarten
Long drive - (W) Carolee Hawkins, (M) Ed Otero

Teams -
1st place:  Tyler Dahl, Kaleb Peters, Bill Decker, Kyle Peters
2nd place:  Mike Trickey, Glynn Williams, Greg Genuit, Keith Meinert
3rd place:  Marianne Cross, Carolee Hawkins, Kaye Hotsenpiller, Carmen Hays

Montrose Club wins numerous awards & special honors

Each year at our District Ten Conference, awards are given for service projects, club membership achievements, club communication, and more.  Altrusa of Montrose is very proud to have been honored with the following awards for the 2009/2010 year:

Mamie L. Bass Service Award - 1st Place for our Lifeline project

Nina Fay Calhoun International Relations Award - 1st Place for multiple projects, including Pennies for Peace, supporting a school in Nepal, American Flag exchange, and Kiva micro-loans

Distinguished Club Award - for our activity and productivity at every level of program involvement, including Service, Programming, Membership, Leadership and Communication - this is our 17th consecutive year of earning this designation

District Ten Membership Award, Membership Net Gain Award, and Hazel Henderson Membership Award - 1st Place for all three awards recognizing the most new members, the most net gain in membership, and the percentage of membership gain

Yearbook Award - 1st Place

Website Award - 2nd Place for this club website

Newsletter Award - 2nd Place

In addition to Club awards, Altrusa members Donna Herman (District Ten Governor-Elect) and Elaine Moore were recognized for having sponsored two new members during the past year.

And last, but most certainly not least, Donna Herman received the prestigious Governor's Award, which is given to just one individual in the District each year for outstanding service and positive impact on his/her local Altrusa Club and at the District and International levels as well as other community involvement. We are very proud of Donna and her dedication to Altrusa and to our community. She is an inspiration to all of us.

Club members display awards from the 2010 District Ten Conference.

Left to Right: Alice Vest, Roberta Hoey, Diane Winger, Linda Riba, Val Burnell, Kaye Hotsenpiller, Elaine Moore, Margaret Goodhue, Anita Johansen, Marianne Cross, Donna Herman, Natalie Frush, Ginny Spaven, Lorie Bollig

Altrusa receives grants for Lifeline Project

Alice Vest, left, Chairperson of Altrusa's Lifeline Committee, visits Mary Robinson while servicing her Lifeline Responder Unit in her home.  Mary wears a necklace containing an emergency button which she can press if she needs assistance but cannot get to her phone to call for help.


Altrusa of Montrose recently received a grant from Altrusa International Foundation, Inc. for $1,000, and a grant from Montrose Community Foundation for $2,000  in support of our local Lifeline project. The Montrose Club must replace 46 older Lifeline Responder Units presently in service in Montrose, as they will no longer receive technical service and repair after December 2010.  Each new unit will cost $576 when ordered in groups of 20.

Altrusa of Montrose provides this service for the elderly members of our community who live alone so that they may contact emergency help when in need. Altrusa members purchase, install, and service 105 units, and there is a continual waiting list. Altrusa has been providing this service to Montrose area residents since 1985. Because of the generous support of the Montrose community, Altrusa has raised enough money in the past through fundraisers to fund the Lifeline Project. However, without additional donations and grants, the replacement of the 46 older units during 2010 will not be possible.

Would you like to help support this project? Look for the Donate button in the left column of this website to make a secure, tax deductible donation to Altrusa Foundation of Montrose CO. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Altrusa Golf Tournament a Success!

Altrusa members Molly Fedderson, Lorie Bollig, and Janis Marcha share a laugh at the Golf Tournament.

On Saturday, June 6th, forty players braved a cold wind to participate in our fundraiser golf tournament. At the finish of play, the first place finishers were Mike Trickey, Matt and Mark Fenske, and Scott Krutahupt. Don Coddington, Brian Gatt, Casey Milton and Perry Dunivan placed second with Tyler Dahl, Dan McCaslin, J.T. Armendariz and Mark Scharns in third.

The Longest Drive-Men was won by Matt Fenske, while Denise Distel won for the Ladies. Closest to the Pin-Men was Kerry Dunivan with Denise claiming this prize as well for Women.

Prior to the 8:30 shotgun start the players enjoyed coffee and donuts and checked out the great silent auction items. Registration was handled by Carol Watson and Alice Vest, with Janis Marcha and Cindy Donohue handing out bottled water and cards listing the silent auction items. Cindy also got great photos of the teams on the course.

Rib City Grill provided a tasty hot meal following play. The players warmed up in the clubhouse and made their final silent auction bids. $1,990 was raised in the silent auction!! Thanks to everyone who donated an item or placed a bid.

After the final accounting, the tournament will net about $6,100, double last year’s total. There was tremendous support from the Montrose community in the form of prizes, hole sponsorships and donations. Proceeds from this fundraiser will benefit Altrusa's Lifeline service project.

The golf committee consisted of Alice Vest, Cindy Donohue, Janis Marcha, Kylee Smith, Lesley Archibald, Margaret Goodhue, Marianne Cross, Martha Dusio, Molly Feddersen, Carol Watson, Co-Chair Carolee Hawkins and Chair, Elaine Moore.



Golf Team members Casey Milton, Brian Gatt, Kerry Dunivan, and Don Coddington deal with the windy conditions.

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We've recently learned that we will need to replace over 40 Lifeline units by 2010 because the company will no longer support these older units. Altrusa hopes to purchase replacement units on sale; however, even the reduced cost brings our total amount needed to over $20,000! If you would like to make a donation to help us provide these units to members of our community, please use the Donate button above. We welcome donations of any amount.

Altrusa Club of Montrose Colorado Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Lifeline - then and now

One of the largest line item expenditures for service from our organization, along with Scholarships, is Lifeline.  Lifeline units are placed in the homes of the elderly to provide access to emergency help if they are sick or hurt.  A special emergency button can be worn on the wrist or as a necklace, so that a person who is unable to get to a phone can still call for help.

This project began in March 1983, when Altrusa of Montrose held fundraisers and got financial support from other members of our community, including ASTRA, Jazzercise, Kappa Phi Sorority, San Juan Living Center, First United Methodist Church, Power Operations Center members, and United Bank who all helped raise over $12,500 needed just to purchase a base unit, plus additional funds for the individual home units, which cost $500 each.

By June 1985, we had purchased 15 units, and installed them in individuals' homes.  Altrusa currently serves 104 local residents with Lifeline units.

Read more articles about Lifeline
(scroll down the page for older articles)

Source:  25th Anniversary Altrusa International Inc. 1975-2000 Highlights in History

Altrusa Lifeline grant received

Shown left to right: Alice Vest, Lifeline Committee Chair holding a Lifeline unit, Margaret Goodhue,
Mayor David White, Donna Herman, Jan Musson, Nancy Morton-Kaiser, Council person Noelle Hagan, and Roberta Hoey.

Altrusa International, Inc. of Montrose celebrated receiving a $7,500 grant from the City of Montrose for the club’s Lifeline program which serves 104 local clients.

Lifeline helps those who have health and medical problems remain safely in their homes by providing a medical alert security system. The local Altrusa club has been operating the system for over 25 years.

Altrusa of Montrose also received a Wells Fargo grant and an Altrusa International Foundation Grant specifically for Lifeline, for a combined total of over $8,600. With these grants, along with funds budgeted by the club, Altrusa can now replace about one-quarter of the older Lifeline units which are being phased out by the manufacturer.

"Tender Touch Turbans" and "Lifeline" Committees offer Show-and-Tell

Two of our long-term Service committees gave presentations at today's meeting to help all Montrose Altrusans understand more about their projects and the people served in our community.

Joyce Loss began sewing turbans for cancer patients (to keep their heads warm after losing hair) on her own, but soon found the demand was beyond what just one person could handle. The "Tender Touches" committee was created to continue making turbans and warm caps (often requested by male patients).

Joyce (assisted by her daughter, Linda) showed off a number of the stylish creations made by committee members. She estimates that Altrusa provides between 30 and 50 turbans each year to people in the Montrose area.

Alice Vest talked about the Lifeline units that Altrusa has purchased and installed in over 100 homes locally. There is a base unit which plugs into a phone jack, and a portable unit that is usually worn around the neck. These devices give people peace of mind, knowing that if they fall or have an emergency, they can call for help with a simple push of a button.

Lifeline committee members install and test each unit at a person's home. This year, Altrusa is replacing 18 obsolete units (which cost up to $750 apiece) with the help of grants from the City of Montrose and Altrusa International, as well as from funds within the local Altrusa budget.

Altrusa members applauded the work of these service committees, and appreciated the "show and tell" format of today's meeting.

Altrusa Receives City Grant to Benefit Lifeline

Elaine Moore read some wonderful news at our meeting on November 6, 2007. The City of Montrose has approved disbursement of $7,500.00 from their Council Initiative Funds to support our Lifeline project.

Twenty six of the Lifeline units are older models which will no longer be supported by the company if they develop hardware or software problems. This grant from the City of Montrose, along with a $500 grant from Wells Fargo, plus $7,000 from Altrusa's 2007-2008 Community Service budget, will enable Altrusa to replace all 26 older units with new models.

Lifeline units help seniors remain in their own homes, knowing that they can call for help if needed with the press of a button on a unit worn around a wrist or neck.

The Altrusa Club of Montrose, Colorado has provided Lifeline emergency responder units to those in need in the Montrose, Colorado area for over 25 years. Since the implementation of the project, over 100 Lifeline units are in service today, allowing the frail and elderly to maintain an independent lifestyle while remaining in their own home.