Montezuma County Non-Profit Gearing Up For Fundraiser

A local nonprofit is hosting a first-of-its-kind gear drive to help kids in Montezuma County and hopefully give residents a place to shop for their own gear library. You're watching the "Local News Network" brought to you by TruWest Auto and Southwest Health System. I'm Connor Shreve. A little more than a week remains to donate gently-used outdoor recreational gear to the School Community Youth Collaborative.

So right now we are doing a used gear drive, any, like, outdoor gear, rec gear, whatever. It can be sports. It can be camping gear. It can be backpacks, shoes, whatever. And we're collecting that gear to have a used gear sale, hopefully, this fall.

Of course that sale depends on having enough product. So SCYC is doing one final push over the next week to gather gear.

I think a lot of people are like, "Oh, I have something, like, will you take it?" And I am like, "Yep, just bring it by." Like, even if it's not in the best condition, like, we'll take a look at it. You know, we want to give your old stuff some new life. So, and I know some people are excited about the sale potentially happening 'cause I think people are always on the lookout for a good deal, and I think we'll have some good deals.

The School Community Youth Collaborative runs many initiatives, ranging from afterschool kids' activities along with a substance use program. Even if it might be most well-known for its free Gear Lending Library.

The gear sale will benefit all of SCYC but our Gear Lending Library, specifically. We're really trying to do some more program aspects. We find that sometimes a barrier to the outdoors is, like, going by yourself, and so we try to use, like, the power of the group to get people outdoors.

Director Christine Brice-Nelson is hoping this gear drive can shift some of the support for the library to the program as a whole. All while providing the community a place to stock up on their gear needs for the seasons ahead.

And often because we are so well-stocked with the gear because we've had funding for it for several years, we don't need new gear. We're like, "Oh, if people are willing to give and donate to the Gear Lending Library, we could potentially use that, use those donations to help support us as an organization.

The drive runs through October 25th, and you can drop off your donations at Wild Edge Brewing Collective, CrossFit Cortez, or the SCYC office on Main Street. For more information about this and other stories, visit montezumalocal.news. Thank you for watching this edition of the "Local News Network." I'm Connor Shreve.