With joyful abandon, attendees of the fourth annual "Food and Wine Caper," hosted by the Arvada Sunrise Rotary and Roth Distributing, penned in ever-increasing bids for treasures. There were vacation weeks in Cabo San Lucas and Steamboat, a gloriously massive Wolf Steel Grill, soothing Dreamfalls fountains, richly over-flowing gift baskets, a private cooking event for ten with Chef Andrea Frizzi, all donated by members, friends, and businesses.

The catalyst of this generosity lies in the collision of two worlds, prosperity and poverty. At Roth Distributing's showroom, attendees washed their hands under a sparkling waterfall, backlit by sapphire blue light. The silent auction items were staged among seventeen, exquisitely crafted, kitchen vignettes. In Roth's world, the Subzero Refrigerator disappears behind finely crafted cabinetry and Wolf stoves make chefs victims of envy.

While hors d'oeuvres were nibbled and wine sipped, other Caper attendees ensconced themselves inside Roth's cooking amphitheater. Three unique cooking events where performed by celebrity chefs. As their gourmet dinners were prepared live, diners admired the chefs' precise motions on screen.

Shortly, those screens displayed vistas of utter poverty in Kenya, Africa and Juarez, Mexico. Women walk hours daily to find water in Kenya and families in Juarez live in tumbled-down, cardboard slums built upon the slopes of an old landfill. The scenes posed no surprises to the viewers because the photographers were in the room.

Arvada Sunrise Rotary members recently visited the permanent water storage tanks in Oldonyonyokie, Kenya, funded by the club. The women still walk for water, but now their source is clean and secure.

This winter, in Juarez, a grandmother and child moved from their cardboard shelter, into a genuine house with a roof, door, and electricity, built by hand and paid for by Arvada Sunrise members.

From the collision of prosperity and poverty, comes the Rotary's motivation to give, to act, and to join. Everyday Arvadans have discovered that their donations gain power, four times over, through Rotary International's matching funds. There's a hospital in Africa, serving thousands, with no reliable source of water. Soon, through the combination of Rotary forces, working in unison with the African government, health organizations, and other foreign countries, this hospital will have water.

Arvada Sunrise's focus is as deeply invested in the local community. Members donate their time, talents, and treasure to the "Read to Me" literacy program, the Arvada Wheat Ridge Service Ambassadors for Youth, North Arvada Middle School's Washington, D.C. trip, the Rotary Youth Leadership Award, the Arvada Food Bank, Monthly Senior Citizen Award, Student of the Month Award, and much more.

If you have a heart for sharing, and a desire to affect genuine change, come visit ArvadaSunriseRotary.org. You'll find friends waiting.