The Denver West Rotary Club may be small, but its members are mighty.

On Aug. 9, five of the 17 club members showed up for a four-hour shift at the Action Center in Lakewood, to hand out school supplies to 5,200 Jeffco students.

The center provides registered families with supplies for basic human needs that would be a financial burden to purchase.

The Denver West Rotary Club raised $1,000, and Rotary International matched the amount dollar for dollar, providing the Action Center $2,000 to buy back-to-school supplies for their clients in Jefferson County.

Cher Pascoe, marketing director for the club, said the Action Center is the primary nonprofit for which the Denver West club raises money.

“They fit perfectly within our parameters of a local, community based nonprofit that is helping kids,” Pascoe said.

The supplies the Action Center purchased were handed out at Wheat Ridge Elementary School from Aug. 6-10. More than 1,000 clients checked in on each of the five days to pick up their supplies.

Jim and Jo Ferguson, club members since 2010, volunteered Aug. 9 with other Denver West members.

The members helped hand out the binders, notebooks, note cards, dividers and folders at their station.

Jo Ferguson said she thought a great part of the program was letting the children pick out which supplies they wanted, the color and design that best suited their style.

“We even had Justin Bieber folders, if that’s what they wanted,” Ferguson said.

When she arrived, she said, the line of clients was out the door and remained that way for most of the day.

There was a constant flow of people, which caused a lot of excitement in the elementary school, but Jo said her favorite part was getting to see the kindergartners picking out supplies for their first day of school.

“It was very rewarding to see the little kids, who were just so excited,” she said.

The money raised for this event came during the club’s annual citrus sale of Texas grapefruit and oranges.

Last year the club sold more than 800 cases. This year’s sale will start in October.

For more information about the fundraiser, go online to www.denverwestrotary.org.