CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — After this weekend’s epic snowstorm, people all over Castle Rock spent the day digging out. Monday’s sunshine helped melt some of the snow while plows went neighborhood to neighborhood trying to clear side streets so that cars could get out.
While most heeded the advice of officials and stayed off the roads and in their homes this weekend, some did not and got their cars stuck.
A group called Dads of Castle Rock also braved the storm to help stranded motorists.
“In Castle Rock, we pretty much take care of each other for the most part, so if someone is stuck on a hill, then will stop and try to help out,” said Brad Shilts, one of the group’s members.
Dads of Castle Rock started off as a Facebook group for fathers to get together and socialize. Men would meet up at local breweries or participate in cornhole tournaments and get to know their neighbors.
The group quickly grew to more than 2,000 members, so the co-founders decided to turn it into a non-profit aimed at helping people in the community.
“We’ve been raising money for everything from a one-year-old with cancer to, I think, our first year we raised like $3,000 with a dad bake sale,” said Robert Zearing.
The group raises money to adopt families for the holidays, helps people find housing or change tires and is currently building two yurts at a local camp that focuses on teenagers with autism.
“If there’s a good cause, I mean we're interested. We enjoy fundraising,” Zearing said.
During the snowstorm over the weekend and even on Monday, the group drove around Castle Rock and helped dig people out.
However, the group’s biggest rescue from the weekend was a horse that got trapped in snow up to its chest. A call was put out on the group for a few of them to help and about a dozen of them responded.
“Within a couple of minutes, there was a handful of dads and some other community members. They were out there trucking along getting themselves stuck, getting themselves unstuck and long story short, they got that horse free at about 11:30 p.m. last night, and the last I had heard this morning the horse was up on his feet and feeding, so a good story for sure,” Zearing said.
For the members of this dads group, it’s all about helping others in need, whether it’s a snowstorm or something else, and building a community along the way.
“Wherever we could help. If we can get this kind of community involvement everywhere, how much better would this world be?” Zearing said.