02/17/2021
The Kiwanis Club of Kirkland Honors Rob Butcher as An Everyday Hero
Periodically, the Kiwanis Club of Kirkland honors a person in our community for service they have provided in various capacities that has affected the lives of others in a positive way. The Club honors that person by presenting them with an “Everyday Hero” award. The definition of an “Everyday Hero” by Kiwanis International is, “A person or persons recognized for rendering service beyond what is ordinary or expected and for doing so without regard for attention or receiving in return, but rather because it was the right thing to do and needed to be done.” In February, the KCK presented this prestigious award to Rob Butcher, the founder and CEO of Chump Change Foundation and Chump Change Events.
Most Kirkland residents either know Rob Butcher or know his name. He is synonymous with doing great things for the Kirkland community and he stands out as someone willing to take on a challenge and get it done!
Moving to Kirkland about 20 years ago from Bellevue, Rob started his journey of reaching out by his involvement with the annexation of Kirkland. Having Political Science Degree gave him a great advantage of understanding what the annexation was all about and how it was being done. Rob volunteered to help citizens of Kirkland better understand the process and helped them through the transition.
His next venture was the launch of the Kirkland Views, an on-line newspaper that ran successfully for 10 years. He focused on local news and events and always supported the Kirkland Kiwanis by publishing articles written about Kiwanis and helped market fundraising events put on by the Club.
Along with managing his on-line newspaper, in 2009 Rob helped organize a local volunteer group called Kudos Kirkland. The organization of volunteers would clean up public parks and areas that had gotten run down following recessionary budget cutbacks at City Hall, including projects in downtown and along the Market Street medians. The group did this for two years, allowing Kirkland residents and visitors to more fully enjoy the beauty of Kirkland.
In early 2012, Rob was approached by some of the Elders of Kirkland, encouraging him to co-chair a family music and arts festival, the type of which the city had not seen since the 1990s. This festival was called Kirkland Summerfest. Rob had never organized an event before, but with team of 30 community organizers he and community volunteer Michelle Sailor took on the challenge as co-chairs of the festival.
He jumped in with both feet and started doing what needed to be done to get this Summerfest going. He organized 300-400 volunteers to work the three-day event as well as hire musicians, make arrangements for food trucks and booths, come up with creative ideas for kids attending the event and manage the logistics of serving alcohol. Summerfest would have something for everyone! It was an enormous undertaking, but Rob did it with conviction, pride and smile on his face for everyone he came contact with. The first Summerfest in 2011 was a huge success, bringing thousands of people to Kirkland and it continues to this day as Kirkland’s largest festival.
Organizing Summerfest prompted Rob to start down a totally different path. He put the Kirkland Views on-line newspaper “to bed” for good and began a new adventure by creating his own non-profit organization called Chump Change Foundation. This was Rob’s way of making a commitment to non-profit organizations in the Kirkland community to support them both financially and to help staff their events with volunteers. With Summerfest being so successful, plans started being made for another large Kirkland event, Oktoberfest. As the Chump Change team began the process of organizing Oktoberfest, they started contemplating other events they would like to sponsor. As all of this was happening Rob branched off to launch Chump Change Events which took over the production part of these events. Some of the other events sponsored are the Polar Bear Plunge, Sip Kirkland and more. CCE not only does event planning, but offers services in promotion, marketing and website building. For more information about Chump Change Events, go to www.chumpchange.org.
While Chump Change Events works on planning, organizing and running these events, Chump Change Foundation takes funds raised and donates them to various charities in our community. Some of the not for profit organizations the Foundation supports are Make a Wish, Sibling House, Kirkland Art Center, Kirkland Heritage Society, Meow Cat Rescue, KDA, Kiwanis Club of Kirkland and many more. For a complete list of these organizations, more information or to make a donation, go to www.chumpchangefoundation.org.
Covid 19 has put a damper on Chump Change’s ability to impact on our community. With no events to plan, that means no money raised to support local non-profits who need it now more than ever. Chump Change is planning future events as we look forward better times in 2021.
Rob Butcher has had a positive effect on Kirkland since the day he chose to make it his home. He has been reaching out and helping others in so many ways with an open heart and a smile on his face. His outgoing, positive attitude is infectious and the Kiwanis Club of Kirkland is proud to honor him as their 2021 Everyday Hero.
Thank You Rob for all you do.
If you would like to know more about the Kiwanis Club of Kirkland, our website is www.kirklandkiwanis.com or you may contact Tom Pendergrass at [email protected]. Weekly meetings are held on Zoom at noon every Wednesday. Please let us know if you would like to join us!
Bonni Sundberg
Marketing Director
Kiwanis Club of Kirkland / Kirkland Kiwanis Foundation
