Osborne Trust grantees for ‘07 named

       Fourteen charitable institutions that serve the Westside and Ute Pass received a total of $134,000 this year from the William and Betty Osborne Trust Fund. All but two of those attended an Oct. 30 luncheon of the Garden of the Gods Rotary Club, which manages the fund, where they were recognized and presented with their checks.
       “This (the annual disbursements) brings to fruition the vision of what Bill and Betty Osborne wanted,” said Rotary President Ed Montgomery. “It's our privilege to do that.”
       Three of the entities have operations on the Westside - Westside CARES, which provides emergency services to the needy from the basement of Bethany Baptist Church, 1930 W. Colorado Ave. ($35,000); Silver Key Senior Services, 2250 Bott Ave. ($35,000), which helps people over 60 to live independently; and the Boys and Girls Club of the Pikes Peak region ($3,000), which offers after-school programs to youths from its El Pomar Club at 805 Praderia Avenue.
       The Osbornes ran a drug store for many years at 25th Street and Colorado Avenue (where the Chocolate Factory is now) and also had a ranch in the Woodland Park area. Both died in 1985, with no relatives. Bill, who had been active with the Rotary, left a precise will defining a trust fund to support local charities that provide services in the areas they had lived and worked.
       Three new agencies are on this year's list. One is Mission Medical, which offers free medical clinics in the Springs area. The other two, located in Woodland Park, are Prospect Home Care, which gives aid to people who otherwise might have to go into nursing homes; and Help the Needy, which provides emergency housing, medical and dental services.
       One of the directives in the Osborne will was that a committee of past Garden of the Gods Rotary presidents determine the disbursements from applications that are sent in. Donna Sawaya, one of those presidents, said that an appealing aspect of this effort is seeing people who receive charity “turn around and volunteer themselves. It makes it so it's not a complete handout. They're giving back in some way,” she said. “I think that's what Bill and Betty wanted, to help people and see the joy passed on.”

Westside Pioneer article