Media Room

University of the Rockies hosted 60 Young Life fire evacuees for dinner in the campus’s Harvey House auditorium on June 25, 2013. President Charlita Shelton and Vice President/Campus Director Bob Edelbrock organized a dinner for the high school and college age camp counselors and staff of the Wilderness Ranch camp, which is located near the West Fork Complex where three different wildfires are currently burning.

 To date, more than 81,000 acres have been burned with zero containment in the West Fork Complex. The Young Life Camp was evacuated on Saturday, June 22, resulting in more than 60 Young Life counselors and directors being forced to relocate. With the help of Samaritans’ Purse, a humanitarian organization, the Young Life group relocated to Colorado Springs.

Once the campers were safe in Colorado Springs, the Young Life evacuees began volunteering by sifting through ashes to find any valuable items from the 500 homes that were burned during the Black Forrest fire.

“It was a pleasure and honor to host such a fine group of young volunteers for dinner in the historic Santa Fe Railroad station’s Harvey House,” said Edelbrock. “We were happy to be able to provide them with a nice meal in a beautiful setting after they spent the day assisting in the cleanup of the Black Forest fire.”

Despite evacuations, the fire has not yet reached Wilderness Ranch. For more updates on how Wilderness Ranch is affected, please visit http://www.younglife.org/PressRoom/News/WildfireUpdates.htm.

About University of the Rockies

University of the Rockies is an advanced graduate institution for tomorrow’s thought leaders. The University provides an intimate and dynamic learning environment, offering highly specialized master’s and doctoral degree programs in the social and behavioral sciences, access to industry experts, campus clinical programs for practical experience, and research and publishing opportunities. University of the Rockies is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association (www.ncahlc.org). Small by design, University of the Rockies classes are presented in a progressive online format and at its Colorado Springs, Colorado campus and its Denver Instructional Site. For more information, please visit www.rockies.edu or call Shari Winet Rodriguez, vice president of Public Relations, at 866.621.0124 x2513.