Get ready to celebrate with the Rotary Club of Parker at the High Country Hoedown on Saturday, April 18 from 6:00-10:00 p.m. at the DCSD Legacy Campus Ballroom. The event is focused on celebrating the people who support the youth in our community. Live music will be provided by Red Mountain Highway.
Attend the event and invite guests. To purchase tickets, click here.
Donate a bottle or two of wine/whiskey.
Create the decorations! We have a donation of items such as hay bales and a saddle all lined up, but we need help with the table decorations. If this is up your alley, please contact Sue Garwood.
As we move towards the end of the school year, our club has two opportunities for youth that wrap up in April. If you have youth in your life, please spread the word!
RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) summer programs for high school and middle school students. Our club supports several students each summer so that they can take part at no cost to them. Information and application available here. The deadline is April 30.
Yes, there is a Rockies game vs. the Padres on April 11 (6:40 p.m.), but that's not the triple-header we're talking about. There are three events on April 11 that deserve your participation, but you may have to pick and choose:
Parker Task Force Food Drive, Stroh Ranch King Soopers. Saturday, April 11: 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Third food drive of 2026! For more information and to sign up, click here.
Packing Solar Panels for Ukraine, Parker Task Force community room. Saturday, April 11, noon-1:00 p.m.
Join Steve Brown to send messages of cheer on the solar panels that are destined for the Ukraine. Questions? Contact Steve.
Celebration of Life for Robert "Doc" Martin at Joy Lutheran Church. Saturday, April 11, 2:00 p.m.
Community Service Meeting, Parker Task Force. Wednesday, April 22, 6:00 p.m.
A great way to serve is join in the Community Service meeting on April 22 and help plan the projects for the upcoming Epic Day of Service (May 16, 2026).
Project CURE. Monday, April 27: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
We volunteer the fourth Monday of the month to sort medical supplies. For more information and to sign up for April, click here.
When wildfires tore across western Nebraska in March 2026, the Rotary Club of Parker responded with speed, generosity, and the kind of ground-level intelligence that only a global Rotary network can provide. The fires are now contained. Here is the full story.
The scale of the disaster was historic. More than 824,000 acres burned across the state. The Morrill Fire alone stretched 100 miles wide through the Sandhills grasslands, making it the largest wildfire in Nebraska's recorded history. A Governor-declared state of emergency covered seven counties. One woman, 86-year-old Rose White of Arthur, lost her life fleeing the flames. Thousands of families were evacuated and an estimated 30,000 head of cattle were lost in a region where ranching is a way of life.
Through our connection to Rotary District 5630, active on the ground in the affected region, we learned that Hot Meals USA had established centralized food relief operations at the Lincoln County Fairgrounds in North Platte, coordinating meal preparation and distribution for evacuees and the firefighters battling the blaze. That Rotarian-to-Rotarian connection gave us the certainty to act fast and act right.
The Parker Rotary Foundation approved an Expanded Service Funding grant, and with additional member donations, our club raised and sent a total of $5,000 to Hot Meals USA. The funds were charged directly to the club credit card so the money was available without delay.
Brenda Cochran, Corporate Communications Director at Hot Meals USA, spoke to the value of the Rotary partnership:
"Hot Meals USA is pleased to regularly partner with Rotary Clubs when we deploy during times of disaster. The amount of volunteers that show up to help is amazing and we appreciate the support. Thank you to Rotary for partnering with Hot Meals USA, both with volunteers and financially, while we fed firefighters during the fires in West Central Nebraska in March. We appreciate the support and look forward to joining forces again."
This is what Parker Rotary looks like in practice: a global network that tells us where the need is greatest, members who respond with generosity, and a Foundation built to move quickly when it matters most.
We mourn the recent death of Robert “Doc” Martin, a founding member of the Rotary Club of Parker and the club's second president. Doc Martin was a member of the club from its founding in 1993 to his death. He served the community of Parker in countless ways, from his profession as a dentist to coaching to serving in Cub Scouts.
A service and celebration of life will be held on Saturday, April 11 at 2:00 PM at Joy Lutheran Church in Parker.
Rotary is an international organization, with opportunities to serve both locally and internationally. The Rotary Club of Parker participated in a service project in February that was both local AND international. One of our morning meetings was dedicated to a presentation of the Shark Pond program, where we viewed live online presentations by two entrepreneurs in Malawi.
Shark Pond is the inspiration of Ben Davidson of the Pocatello (ID) Rotary Club. Through local Rotary clubs in Africa, Shark Pond provides training in the skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur. Shark Pond then connects African entrepreneurs with Rotary clubs to provide the microloan. Each Shark Pond event includes two entrepreneurs making a live online pitch to a Rotary club. Below is the panel of judges from the Rotary Club of Parker who interacted in real time with the entrepreneurs from Malawi to ask about their businesses.
Our club had the privilege of participating in a service project originated by the Rotary Club of Highlands Ranch. Solar Chargers for Humanity facilitates making portable solar chargers available around the world. Each panel can charge up to four devices such as cell phones or tablets. For complete information on the scope of this project, click here.
Our club purchased 20 solar panels that are destined for Ukraine. A group of club members and their families then attached converters that accept USB plugs. The last step before shipping the panels off will be to invite club members and students from affiliated Rotary Interact clubs to decorate the back of the panels with messages of encouragement.
