“Every parent knows building the relationship between you and your child is a process. Every day you don’t work on it is a day lost. And these days aren’t infinite,” says Aaron Eide.
Aaron Eide has served on the board at Colorado Youth Outdoors since 2011 – our board’s second-longest member.
The board is responsible for the governance and oversight of CYO. In addition, board members are also tasked to help procure funding & help with fundraising events. It’s not easy volunteer work. Rewarding, we hope!
CYO is specifically thankful to Aaron for his help with:
- Maximizing capacity at Swift Ponds (examples include school field trips, classroom rental, and other partner programs)
- Growth in planned giving and endowment accounts
- Standard operating procedures f0r the organization
“We say that CYO is where relationships grow; well, Aaron Eide is our relationship master! Individuals, corporations, foundations — we owe a lot to the relationships Aaron has fostered throughout the community,” states Bob Hewson, Colorado Youth Outdoors CEO.
Aaron estimates he spends 2 to 4 hours a month on CYO projects. . . if that’s true (CYO office staff counted up the # of emails from Aaron last month to determine this estimate is low), he’s now in for well over 400 hours of his life!
Why CYO?
“I grew up doing all types of outdoor things with my dad,” replies Eide, “But it’s not as common these days. CYO has found a way to take our technology out of the equation and help parents and kids plug into time together.”
It’s the foundation CYO creates for teens and parents that keeps Aaron involved.
CYO’s PACD model (participate, appreciate, communicate, dedicate) taught at CORE can apply to every aspect of a relationship-building. For example, communication is essential to safety on the shooting range — and equally essential when tag-teaming dinner. Appreciation happens naturally when casting a rod on the side of a lake, once you slow down to the fish’s time. It’s also an essential piece of a healthy relationship – an act that needs to be reciprocal.
Keepin’ it in the family
Brandee Eide, Aaron’s wife, has stepped in as CYO’s graphic designer. She creates everything from the annual report to fliers for all CYO’s programming.
After all this time, Aaron hasn’t had a child old enough to bring to CORE class! He still has a CYO experience to look forward to – his daughter turns 12 next year.
2011 vs 2022
During Aaron Eide’s tenure, every facet of CYO has grown and improved. Let’s check out how far we’ve come!
When Aaron started on the board in 2011, Swift Ponds didn’t have an on-site office — and the main duties of the board were to sell spots to one annual fundraiser, the Maverick.
Aaron’s first big task as a board member was a 2.5 million dollar capital campaign to raise funds to build Richardson Hall, current home of the CYO offices and classrooms.
Remember the bit above about ‘maximizing capacity’? Check out this graphic: 18 times more programming-related visitors in 2022 vs 2011!
During Aaron’s tenure, we’ve built an archery range, a BB gun range, installed walking trails around the property, and so many other improvement projects.
We’ve sure grown beyond the Maverick. Now folks can support CYO through an option of events: The Scoot, Holes & Hops, NoCo’s Winter Wonderland and our second annual 3D archery shoot this August. Something for everyone!
Last, (and a biggie for Aaron in particular): we paid off our loan for Richardson Hall November 2022 . . . CYO is operating debt-free in 2023!