Sunrise Rotary Helps at More Than a Bed, Tucson Housing First
Christianne Dettmann
“Every child deserves to be valued” is much more than a mantra to More Than a Bed (morethanabed.org), a Tucson-based resource center for foster and adoptive families. This 501(c)(3) charity “…provides essential items—beds, clothing, shoes, diapers, toys, and more—at no cost to children and caregivers. This support helps ease the financial expense of caregiving and helps a child to feel seen and valued during challenging transitions.”
While physically located in Pima County, More Than a Bed is able to serve all counties in Arizona. The SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club started helping with donations processing earlier this year at their facilities located at 3637 North 1st Avenue in Tucson. The Resource Center is set up much like a retail store, featuring clothing, shoes, diapers, toys, and much more! The Donation Center provides space for offices, donation processing, and large item storage. The Enrichment Center opens in 2026 and will provide opportunities to learn life skills, take employment classes, and participate in enrichment activities like martial arts, drama, and robotics.
All donations are meticulously inspected and sorted for quality, which is how SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club members helped out this past June. If you have unused, useful household items needing good homes, or if you are looking to volunteer somewhere that will have an immediate impact, More Than a Bed is an excellent choice!
Another way club members have helped in the community is to volunteer with the Tucson Housing First program. Learn more at tucsonaz.gov. This program works to end homelessness through a variety of programs that include street outreach, mobile showers, emergency shelters, and housing services. The club helped in June by sorting and organizing items in the program’s warehouse.
The SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club is a small but mighty cause-based club that works hard to meet tangible needs in the community. Learn more at saddlebrookesunriserotary.org.
SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club members volunteering at the Tucson Housing First warehouse
Spotlight on Beth Morrison: SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary
Beth Morrison has lived a life taking her from Army language school to a German mountaintop near the former East German border; from raising children on six rural acres in California to protecting children and families in court; from three years of RV travel across America to desert gardening in Arizona. Along the way have been Russian radio transmissions, a banjo, a 1,000-year-old German village, and lizards with a decided preference for dried mealworms.
Born at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Fla., Beth grew up in Southern California, where frequent moves taught her to adapt quickly and become comfortable being “the new girl.”
After graduating in 1975, she joined the Army to study languages and see the world. The Army delivered both. While studying Arabic and Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, she met Mark. When Beth excused herself for a banjo lesson, Mark replied, “You play the banjo? I have a banjo too.” Beth admits her banjo career was brief—probably to the relief of everyone within earshot—but the conversation lasted a lifetime; celebrating 50 years of marriage this year.
Stationed in Germany, Beth was a Russian linguist translating intercepted military communications. She and Mark embraced life overseas, exploring castles and villages while living in a town celebrating its 1,000th anniversary.
Back in California they raised daughter Shannon and son Matthew on six country acres filled with gardens, chickens, and ducks—while continuing the family debate over whether the children or the chickens required more supervision.
While raising her family, Beth earned both a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Communications and a Master of Social Work. She spent nearly three decades serving Stanislaus County, eventually supervising Child Welfare social workers. For 18 years she prepared Dependency Court cases and worked with families facing life’s hardest challenges. Though emotionally demanding, the work gave her the opportunity to help children find safer, more stable futures.
When Mark retired in 2016, he suggested selling the house and traveling full-time in an RV. Beth happily agreed. They spent nearly three years exploring 40 states while Beth documented the adventure in more than 200 travel blogs. Mark good-naturedly maintained he wasn’t especially fond of traveling, despite three years of evidence to the contrary.
COVID eventually brought them to Tucson, where Beth discovered cycling, native plants, and desert gardening. In 2022 they found SaddleBrooke. After touring the community, they looked at one another and said, “This place is too good for us.” Fortunately, SaddleBrooke disagreed. They now enjoy remodeling their home, watching birds, and feeding mealworms that the neighborhood lizards somehow always discover first.
Beth is completing the Master Gardener program to help residents become more successful gardeners, although she has learned that plants, like people, do not always follow directions.
She discovered SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary at the 2023 Club Fair. Its hands-on service, close friendships, and commitment to children and families immediately felt like home.
Beth’s life reflects curiosity, service, humor, and a willingness to embrace whatever adventure comes next.
SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary: The Year in Numbers
Kelly McDonald
July 1 of each year marks the start of a new calendar for Rotary International, a global service organization of more than 1.2 million members in 200 countries around the world. SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club focuses our service and community investment mission on the Copper Corridor region and supporting organizations and families within this high need area. The club had a remarkable year in terms of our service projects and community investment, including:
* 2,728+ total volunteer hours
* 66 projects
* $17,500 in community investments
* 11 community partners
* 13 years of service to the community … and counting!
These figures represent the service work and financial support our club and its members have provided to organizations like the Tri Community Food Bank, Mammoth San Manuel Unified School District, The Golden Goose, Little Free Library, and many more.
The mission of Rotary International is “Service Above Self.” Just one example where SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club is making an impact is our school snack program with the Mammoth San Manuel Unified School District to combat food insecurity and improve student learning and outcomes.
SaddleBrooke Sunrise Rotary Club meets on the first and third Thursdays of each month at the Hacienda building at SaddleBrooke Ranch. Contact Bob Lamar, President, at 509-885-0097 or boblamar@nwi.net to join us for community service and fellowship, or learn more about this club at saddlebrookesunriserotary.org.