Imagine! In The News

There was a great story from this weekend’s Daily Camera about Imagine! SmartHome resident Gerald and his job at Twisted Pine Brewery.

Check it out here.

The story also featured a cool video:

 

Thank You Thursday: The Denver Foundation

Today we’d like to say “thanks” to The Denver Foundation for its recent grant of $5,000 to support the Imagine!'s Dayspring Community Calendar Activities program.

The Denver Foundation is a community foundation dedicated to improving life in Metro Denver through inspiring people and mobilizing resources to strengthen the community. Community foundations are endowments - permanent pools of money contributed by donors to benefit a specific geographic area. ln 2010, The Foundation awarded $69 million to nonprofit organizations.

Dayspring’s Community Calendar activities introduce families with children who have developmental disabilities or delays to places in our community that offer great activities and opportunities for children to meet their goals through fun and play. All activities encourage motor, sensory, social-emotional, cognitive and speech-language development.

Each location has activities that are age and developmentally appropriate. Activities are centered around play, because play is the primary vehicle for a child’s mental and physical growth. Play has a vital role in cognitive, speech-language, physical, emotional and social development.

Much of young children’s learning takes place when they direct their own play. Learning occurs as children touch, manipulate, experiment and talk about things, while interacting with people who facilitate without directing. During play, children are provided with sensory experiences and opportunities to move. Young children need to climb, run, jump and challenge themselves motorically. Children are natural explorers and instinctively touch, taste, hear and observe the world around them.

We are sincerely grateful for The Denver Foundation’s support of children and families served by Imagine!.

Imagine! Gets REAL (Award)

Last week, Imagine! Foundation Executive Director Susan LaHoda had the pleasure of attending Boulder Magazine’s REAL Awards ceremony. Especially exciting for Susan was the fact that Imagine! won a REAL Award in the Non-Profit, Community at Large category.

The award is a real honor, especially considering the other finalists in our category. The Colorado Chautauqua Association, Community Cycles, and KGNU Community Radio are all excellent examples of organizations making a difference in our community, and any one of them could have won.

REAL stands for “Recognizing Everything About Local,” and that is a big part of what makes the award so special for Imagine!. What we do at Imagine! is essentially a community building endeavor, and we wouldn’t be successful without the support of our community.

That community support of Imagine! was on display at the ceremony. Many of the other finalists and winners of the evening were organizations and individuals that have supported Imagine! in many different ways. So we can truly say that although the award plaque says “Imagine!,” everybody in attendance last night had a hand in our success, and the award is as much theirs as it is ours.

Thank you Boulder Magazine, the esteemed panel of REAL Award judges, and everyone who has supported, and continues to support, Imagine! and the people we serve. We are truly grateful.

Imagine! Foundation Donor Recognition Reception

Donors to the Imagine! Foundation during the past 11 years will be honored and thanked at a reception on Wednesday, April 25 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Imagine!’s John M. Taylor Conference Center, 1665 Coal Creek Drive, Lafayette. A brief program will bring guests up to date on Imagine!’s involvement at the state and national level, including an update on activities at the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder and the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont. Hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served. Since the Foundation’s inception in 2001,community donors have provided nearly $4,850,000 to benefit those Imagine! serves.

Thank You Thursday!

This week’s roundup of generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation includes:

Bronze ($1,000-$2,499)
Combined Federal Campaign (Individual donations will be listed at the end of the fiscal year.)

Associate ($500-$999)
Howard and Mary Allen Fund/The Longmont Community Foundation
McCarty Charitable Fund/The Longmont Community Foundation Friend

($1-$249)
In Memory of Patricia Coyne
   From Mary Chokran
Walt & Linda Pounds

As always, thanks to all of our generous donors.

Congratulations Charles “Chuck” Sisk

Today we’d like to say “congratulations” to Charles "Chuck" Sisk for his induction into the Boulder County Business Hall of Fame, Class of 2012.

Mr. Sisk is a partner in the firm of Hurth, Sisk & Blakemore.

Mr. Sisk moved to Colorado at the age of one. His great grandparents homesteaded in Colorado in 1871. Mr. Sisk received his B.A. from the University of Colorado in 1967 and his J.D. from the University of Colorado in 1969. He joined Hurth, Sisk & Blakemore in 1973 after serving three years as Deputy District Attorney for Boulder County.

Mr. Sisk has served as Boulder County’s Public Administrator since 1977. As such, he is regularly appointed by the Court to represent minors, the elderly and the mentally or physically challenged who need legal representation.

A former (20-year) college football referee in the Mountain West Athletic Conference, Mr. Sisk is active in numerous civic organizations and recently ended an eight year run as Mayor of Louisville, Colorado due to term limits.

Mr. Sisk is licensed to practice law in the Colorado State Courts and the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.

Mr. Sisk has recently agreed to become a member of the Imagine! Foundation Board of Directors, and will be beginning his service in June. His experience and knowledge will be a great asset to the board, and we look forward to working with him.

If you are interested in attending the April 25 Boulder County Business Hall of Fame luncheon, click here.

Vote Imagine!

Imagine!’s Community Calendar Activities (CCA) program, run by our Dayspring department, is up for a Community Foundation Serving Boulder County NOVA Award – and you can help by voting for Imagine! (and other great organizations) this week.

Click here to learn more about CCA and to vote!

Go Dayspring!

Thank You Thursday!

This week’s roundup of generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation includes:

Silver ($2,500-$4,999)
Art & Marion Seder

Bronze ($1,000-$2,499)

In Memory of Viola Dingman

  From Gary Stewart

Associate ($500-$999)

Rotary eClub One

Supporter ($250-$499)

Apple Matching Gifts Program

Michelle Parsons

Friend ($1-$249)
Emily Gadacz
Patricia Gray
Timothy Shanahan – IBM Payroll Deduction
In Memory of Valerie Straight

  From Anonymous

  From Stuart & Barbara Boyd

  From James Carter & Ruth Fletcher-Carter

  From David Carton

  From Glen & Ina Gwin

  From Carolyn Kiehn

  From Eugene & Marilyn Schneider

In-Kind Donations

In-Kind Friend

Denver Boulder Couriers – one courier trip

As always, thank you to all of our generous donors.

Celebrate National Siblings Day

Today is National Siblings Day, so we’d like to take this opportunity to give a great big shout out to all the siblings of the individuals served by Imagine!. Siblings play a vital role in the lives of their brothers and sisters with disabilities, and many of the folks we serve are blessed with incredibly supportive siblings. In fact, several members of the Imagine! Foundation Board of Directors serve on the board because of their experiences growing up with a sibling with an intellectual disability.

If you are interested in learning more, check out The Sibling Leadership Network (SLN), a national nonprofit dedicated to providing siblings of individuals with disabilities the information, support and tools to advocate with their brothers and sisters and to promote issues important to them and their entire families.

Thank You Thursday!

Here’s a roundup of generous donations to the Imagine! Foundation from the last week.

Bronze ($1,000-$2,499)
Mutual of America – Table Sponsor at Imagine! Celebration
Imagine! Employee “Transcend $10,000” Campaign – 3rd Quarter

Friend ($1-$249)
In Memory of William Beam
  From Lo Anne Zentner
In Memory of Guy Smith
  From Anonymous
  From Randi Madsen
In Honor of Jane Sprague and Maureen Kelly
  From Joshua Putterman and Family
In Memory of Valerie Straight
  From Carrie Davis

As always, thanks to all of our generous donors.

Thank You, Walmart

Today we’d like to say “thank you” to two local Walmart stores that have contributed recently to help support Imagine!’s Family Support Grants Program.

Family Support Grants help pay for the extraordinary costs of caring for a family member who has a developmental disability. Funds may be used to help pay for respite care, professional services, medical and dental senses, transportation, assistive technology, home modifications, and parent and sibling support.

Anyone who has a family member with a developmental disability knows how difficult it can be to pay for some of these expenses, and these grants can make a huge difference.

As one family told us: “This grant will help ease the financial stress and burden that comes with having a special needs child. It helps offset costs that insurance does not cover. Each year it seems that insurance covers less to help our child function in the world. We have dealt with that by cutting down on therapies, respite and recreation activities. This grant helps us keep some of those things in place.”

The Walmart located at 500 Summit Boulevard in Broomfield recently gave $1,000 to underwrite a Family Support Grant for a Broomfield family, and the Walmart located at 745 US Highway 287 in Lafayette  recently gave $1,000 to underwrite a Family Support Grant for a Boulder County family.

Other local Walmart stores have supported our Family Support Grants in the past, including two Walmart stores in Longmont that contributed $2,500 each in 2009.

Thank you, Walmart, for your continued support of Imagine! and the families we serve!

Light It Up Blue For Autism

Today is World Autism Awareness Day, and Imagine! and the Imagine! Foundation are “Lighting It Up Blue” to help shine a light on autism.

Learn more here.