By Rosanne Gain
District 5470 Public Image Committee

The Rotary Club of Durango (Durango’s first Rotary Club) initiated the annual Fourth of July pancake breakfast about 22 years ago. Durango Daybreak Rotary Club came on board five years ago. The third club — Durango High Noon Rotary Club — joined the other two this year (2026). 

As background, the Rotary Club of Durango’s membership is comprised of mostly older members who reached the point where they couldn't physically pull off such a big effort. The senior club invited the Daybreak club to join them in sharing the work and the profits. This year, the two original clubs asked the High Noon club to join and make this a tri-club effort that ended up being highly successful. The addition of the High Noon Rotary Club brought that club’s great sponsorship ideas into the fold. The result was that each of the three clubs came out with a net profit greater than in previous years. 

Each club netted about $6,000 for their efforts. Funds from all three clubs will be used for community projects such as nonprofit donations, youth programs, move-in kits for families transitioning from shelters to permanent housing, student scholarships and more.

Turns out that collaboration turned out to be a “win-win” situation all the way around. Each club did better than ever.