Each year the Tualatin Rotary Club members put forth time, money and effort toward charitable community projects.  Rather than being just a conduit for money to reach places where it is needed, our club looks for projects where we can also make a difference within our community by also working on the project.  Money for these projects comes from the Tualatin Rotary Club’s Annual Rose Sale.

CANBY GROVE CAMP BUNK BED PROJECT 

The Tualatin club was involved in a project in the late spring of 2005 which was brought to our attention by one of our members, Pat Nicholson.  The project took on an urgency when the Canby Grove Camp determined it needed to build about 80 bunk beds in order to serve underprivileged  children during the upcoming summer months.  The camp needed two things, the funds to pay for the materials to build the bunks and the manpower to build the bunks. 

In a matter of days the Tualatin Rotary Club was able to put together a work crew to build the 80 bunk beds.  The first day of work was strictly measuring and cutting each part for later assembly, and the construction of a prototype bunk from which all the others would be assembled.  Members brought whatever tools they could find, and Darin Hirte, who has years of construction experience, brought table saws and professional equipment to the project.  Members who joined Darin in the project with only a few day’s notice were Kent Barker and his daughter, Mike and Debbie Bunce, President Chris Duley, John Hardy, Paul Hennon, Rick Matthias, Kevin Moore, Norb and Leah Murray, Pat & Don Nicholson and John Pries. 

Through all the saw dust and sweat the enormity of the project became apparent.  80 bunk beds need 320 legs, 640 mattress frames and countless nuts and bolts to hold everything together.  One crew ripped and stacked plywood for the mattresses to rest on while another cut and stacked 2x8s for legs.  Another crew cut and stacked side boards and other parts for the frames.  As the stacks of lumber grew, another crew began the drilling and counter-sinking holes for the bolts and nuts, a job that requires not only precision but careful stacking of finished pieces to make assembly much easier.

Building the beds took a huge effort from many people, but the club also wanted to help out with funding the project, no small task in itself because the project came at the end of the fiscal year, and no funds had been budgeted for the following year, beginning July 1, 2005.  However, with some creative shifting of budgets and a matching grant from Rotary District 5100, it appears the Tualatin Rotary Club was able to not only provide money for this worthwhile project, but the muscle to build the beds for children who would otherwise have missed out on a summer camp experience!  The beds furnished eight cabins with 10 beds each, and impacted 640 children who would otherwise have not been able to attend.