Niwot holiday fundraisers results are in

For the fourth year, Chuck Rodgers’ holiday light extravaganza has collected contributions for the non-profit organization Longmont Meals on Wheels (LMOW). Last year he encouraged visitors to place $4,100 and 31 pounds of food in donation boxes located within the light display. This year the festive spectacle brought in nearly $5,800 and collected 208 pounds of food. Xcel Energy, where Rodgers works, partially matches employee giving and will be adding to this year’s pot.

Rodgers’ tens of thousands of twinkling lights have magnetized and enthralled a constant flow of spectators annually for more than three decades. Each December, perched high on 79th Street just south of Highway 52, the front and side yards of Rodgers and his wife Heidi’s house are filled to the brim with inflatable characters, enormous lit up words, evergreens, vehicles, and farm equipment wound with strings of bright lights, and even miniature houses with life-size models of Santa and Mrs. Claus, all blinking and swaying to music, at no charge to the public.

LMOW Executive Director Karla Hale said, “We truly appreciate Chuck and Heidi’s support to the organization and love that they do this for us every year. We also want to thank the community for supporting their efforts.”

Last year LMOW expanded to better serve the Niwot area. The organization is presently looking for substitute drivers to fill in on the Niwot route and is in need of more drivers for a newly added Longmont route.

Hale said, “Our mission is to support seniors and individuals with disabilities who have a hard time providing a nutritious meal for themselves. We also offer five free meals for any individual that has just gotten out of any hospital or care facility.”

“There are so many generous people in the area,” Rodgers said. “Kids put pennies and nickels into the containers and there were other donations all the way up to hundred dollar bills.”

For additional information on Longmont Meals on Wheels, visit www.lmow.org or call 303-772-0540.

Niwot Dental, owned by Dr. Adam Saeks, also collected food for those in need during the holiday season. Their office, located at 6800 79th Street, Suite 203, put out the word that during the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas they would be collecting food to donate to the non-profit OUR Center in Longmont.

The dental office collected more than nine boxes of food and $25 in cash donations for OUR Center, which helps the working poor, seniors, disabled, and homeless members of our community by providing those individuals and families with food, resources, and services to help make ends meet.

Niwot Dental office coordinator Kim Schwartz said that patients brought in most of the donations, but others in the area also made their way to the office to give.

“We sincerely thank everyone for helping us to help the community. We will definitely be doing this again,” Schwartz said.