June 2026

For Doug and Carolyn Dannen, supporting YMCA of the Rockies has never been simply about giving back. It’s about investing in a place that has shaped their family, strengthened their faith, and created lifelong connections across generations. 

Through a commitment of more than $1.7 million to the Climbing Higher Campaign—including a planned legacy gift, funding for a cabin renovation at Estes Park Center, and support for the new Nordic Center at Snow Mountain Ranch—the Dannens are helping ensure future families experience the same sense of belonging they found at YMCA of the Rockies. 

Because for the Dannen family, the YMCA is personal. 

Doug’s parents, Dwight and Mary Ellen Dannen, with their children, Doug, Debbie, Patty, and Kent.

“I was born into it,” Doug said. 

A Family Tradition of Service

His connection to YMCA of the Rockies began long before he was old enough to fully appreciate it. Doug grew up watching his parents, Mary Ellen and Dwight Dannen, invest their time, leadership, and heart into the mission—beginning a family tradition that now spans five generations. 

His father served on the board of directors, and Doug remembers sitting in the old Rustic Room at Estes Park Center, watching ideas take shape. 

“I’d see my dad meeting with the CEO at the time, Walter Reusch, and writing plans on the back of a napkin,” Doug recalled. 

Those moments left a lasting impression. Doug saw firsthand how vision, generosity, and relationships could shape a community. 

But some of his strongest memories were simpler ones. 

“I used to run all over the place,” he said. “Playing volleyball with the older Fellowship of Christian Athletes guys and just trying to keep up.” 

The YMCA became a place where belonging came naturally—a feeling central to its mission today. 

Giving that Strengthens Community

When Carolyn became part of the story, that spirit of connection grew even deeper. 

At just 24 years old, Doug and Carolyn were already discovering what generosity could look like. Around their dining room table in St. Joseph, Missouri, they launched their very first campaign to help repair the walls and ceiling of their church. 

Inspired by St. Joseph’s history as the birthplace of the Pony Express, they turned fundraising into a community adventure. In true “Pony Express style,” 150 families passed saddlebags filled with pledge cards from home to home and neighborhood to neighborhood—decades before online giving existed. 

What began as a creative, community-centered effort became something larger: the start of a lifelong commitment to generosity rooted in relationships, vision, and shared purpose. 

That same spirit of fun and community carried into their relationship with YMCA of the Rockies. Early in their marriage, they brought nearly 100 high school students from the New Generation Singers group to Estes Park Center on three buses filled with music, energy, and excitement. 

As their own family grew, life became more demanding. Doug built his business, eventually owning many Wendy’s franchises across Colorado, while Carolyn often spent extended time at the YMCA in Estes Park with their children. 

There were difficult seasons too. 

“Our faith has always directed our lives,” Carolyn said. “We’d pray a lot and move forward. It hasn’t been a smooth ride, but it gave us courage to be bold.” 

Even during challenging years, the YMCA remained a constant. 

It also became the place where lifelong friendships were formed, and their family was strengthened.  

Early YMCA memories of Doug and Carolyn with their children, Casey and Cord, in Rocky Mountain National Park.

From their cabin, Carolyn met another family staying nearby—the Everharts. What began as a simple connection between children became a friendship that has lasted decades. 

It’s one of those uniquely “Y stories” in which a vacation becomes something much deeper. 

Doug followed in his father’s footsteps by serving on the board of directors. His siblings, Debbie, Patty, and Kent, all developed their own connections through the YMCA.  

Today, Doug and Carolyn want other families to experience that same connection and renewal. 

Their philanthropy reflects a passion for helping families who serve others—especially foster families, teachers, military families, and caregivers—find rest and reconnection through donor-sponsored getaway programs at Estes Park Center and Snow Mountain Ranch. 

They see it as a way to strengthen families and invest in people doing extraordinary work in their communities. 

Carolyn captures the heart of it simply: 

“It’s like that song ‘Just Fishin’ by Trace Adkins. When our kids and grandkids walk down from the cabin to play mini golf, they’re not just playing—they’re unplugging and building relationships.” 

And that’s what they want for others, too. 

That desire to help others grow is what motivates the Dannens’ support of the Climbing Higher Campaign. 

For them, this campaign is about far more than buildings. It’s about stewardship—caring for a place that has impacted generations of families and ensuring it continues to do so for generations to come. 

“There’s just no other place like YMCA of the Rockies,” Doug said. “And no other place like this, impacting over a quarter of a million people each year in this way. With that number of people, maybe we’re moving the needle a little bit.” 

Over the decades—from Doug’s childhood in the 1950s to moves from Missouri to Florida and work connected to Walt Disney World—the YMCA of the Rockies has remained part of the family’s story. 

Through every season, their faith, commitment to family, community, and belief in generosity have remained steady. 

And now, through their leadership in the Climbing Higher Campaign, the Dannens are helping write the next chapter for families they may never meet. 

Because to them, YMCA of the Rockies is more than a destination. 

It’s a second home—a place where relationships grow stronger, generosity takes root, and lives continue climbing higher.