Reducing Waste and Fostering Hope
Our Story
"It was a combination of both working at resorts in Summit County and attending Rotary meetings..."
Why?
The idea for this program came from a combination of working at ski resorts in Summit County and joining Rotary. One of the resorts I worked at was the Grand Lodge on Peak 7. We would take the clothes that guests lost or left behind to the FIRC thrift stores. That was until they closed down, which I heard at a Breckenridge Mountain Rotary meeting. So I thought to myself, "What are we going to do with all these clothes?"
Why not?
Thousands of pounds of winter clothes were destined for the trash. I reached out to local nonprofits, but none would take these clothes. Fortunately, the Rotary network connected me with two shelters in the Denver Metro area that had a great need for them. One was Step Seven Ministries in Parker. The other was Christ’s Body Ministries in Denver, which had a team that would take donated clothes and hand them out to people on the street. I then approached hotels and resorts in Summit County and said, "I know you all will have a lot of winter clothes left behind this ski season by guests that get thrown away, and I understand. Instead of throwing them away, I’ll come by every week and pick them up, and then take them to homeless shelters. We'll keep them out of the trash and get them to people who really need them." From six hotels during the 2023 -2024 ski season, I was able to collect and distribute 3,052 pounds of winter hats, glove, coats, boots, and more.
Why not now?
Over 3,000 pounds of winter clothes from six hotels. Wow.
From what I heard from the two shelters, it made a huge impact. If doing this had such an impact on the homeless population and environment by servicing six hotels, what kind of impact would this concept have if we serviced ten? What if we serviced twenty or fifty hotels? I formed Slopes to Hope on April 3rd, 2025, to find out.
"I believe there is a strong will among the people of this world to help those in need. And if they are given the opportunity and resources, I believe they will."
- Drew Roberts