A Zolo Thanksgiving

Last week, Dave Query and the Big Red F Restaurant Group hosted a free Thanksgiving Dinner for Imagine! clients and their families at Zolo Southwestern Grill in Boulder.  This is te eighth year he has hosted this event.

The event was once again a huge success. 360 meals were served in three seatings -- turkey, dressing, all the trimmings, pumpkin pie. Donations to Imagine! at the event came to $816, and one generous person left a check for $500. What a great day!

Below are some pictures from the event. Thanks to Dave, Zolo staff, and all the volunteers for creating another special Thanksgiving for the people Imagine! serves.

Residents of the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome enjoyed thier meal.

Dave Query with Imagine! Foundation Executive Director Susan LaHoda.

A happy Imagine! family enjoys their meal.



Longtime Imagine! supporters Peter and Arlene Heinz volunteered to help make the event a success.



Thank You Thursday

Today is Thanksgiving, so it just makes sense to share our weekly roundup of generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation, so we can give a hearty “thanks” to all of them for supporting Imagine!’s mission of providing opportunities for individuals with developmental disabilities to live fulfilling lives of independence and quality in their homes and communities.

Gold ($5,000-$9,999)
David & Laura Braddock
Mark Zentner (combined with Matching Gift from Motorola Foundation)

Bronze ($1,000-$2,499)
Longmont Community Foundation (Giving Spark Award) - Courtesy of Leona Stoecker
Metro Taxi
Rose Community Foundation
Tetra Tech

Friend ($1-$249)
Whitney P. Blair, PC
IBM Payroll Deduction
Vicki O’Connor
Steven Turley
Wallaroo Hat Company
Lo Anne Zentner

Imagine! Celebration Auction Items
Barris Laser & Skin Care – Facial and Microdermabrasion -- $205
Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse – Gift Certificate -- $50
Colorado Chautauqua Association – Two concert tickets -- $50
eTown – Music and Gear Package - $102
The Golden Hotel – One night stay with breakfast for two -- $225
High Country Harley Davidson – 3 day rental -- $375
Iris Nails – Manicure and Pedicure - $35
The Little Jewel – Earrings
Murphy’s Wellness Center – One Hour massage - $70
Turley’s Restaurant Ten $30 Gift Certificates -- $300
Via Toscana – Gift Card -- $25

Imagine! Celebration 2012 Sponsorships

Gold Sponsorships
Ball Corporation 
Sandy & Sally Bracken
David & Laura Braddock
Colorado Business Bank 
Signature Offset
Mark Zentner/Motorola Foundation

Silver Sponsorships
Boulder Community Hospital 

Table Sponsorships
Sandy & Sally Bracken
Centennial Bank
Bob & Judy Charles
David Edwards
FirstBank of Longmont
Liquor Mart 
Longmont United Hospital 
Metro Taxi
Jay & Kathy Montgomery
Walt & Linda Pounds
Lloyd & Julie Streit
Tetra Tech 
Don & Colene Van Winkle

As always, we give thanks to all of our generous donors. 

Join The Imagine! Promise

Please consider joining the dozen individuals who have already put Imagine! into their wills and have let Imagine! know. These names are proudly displayed in the John M. Taylor Conference Center in Lafayette on The Imagine! Promise sculpture. For information or to let us know of your planned gift, please contact Susan LaHoda at slahoda@imaginecolorado.org or 303-666-7018.

Thank You Thursday!

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

Silver ($2,500-$4,999)
Boulder Community Hospital

Associate ($500-$999)
Abigail Gosselin - Designated for Imagine!'s Dayspring department
Import Coachworks, Ltd.

Supporter ($250-$499)
American Family Insurance (Ella Washington)

Imagine! Celebration Auction Items
Alba Restaurant and Wine Bar – Gift Certificate - $50
Agave – Gift Certificate -- $50
Arugula – Gift Card -- $50
Mary Balzer -- Handwoven basket with handblown glass twist -- $100
Blue Mountain Arts -- 6 vouchers for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival - $228
Buddha Cafe – Gift Certificate  -- $50
Laurie Chrisman – Tennis Lessons – $80
Denver Broncos – Signed item of memorabilia - $50
RJ and Pauline Higgins – Estes Park Cabin - $450
Jeffrey K. Abrams Architect – Two one hour consults - $290
Jimmy & Drew’s – Gift Certificate -- $50
Mary Williams Fine Arts – Print - $195
The Mediterranean Restaurant – Gift Certificate -- $25
Murphy’s North – Gift Card -- $50
Restaurant 4580 – Gift Certificate - $50
The Sink Gourmet – Gift Certificate for Catered Event -- $500
Tangerine – Gift Card -- $50

Other In-Kind Items
Edmond & Maria Shapiro – Kids’ clothing – valued at $20

As always, thanks to all of our generous donors.

Imagine!'s Supported Employment Services - Beneficial To All

Since 1984, CORE/Labor Source, a division of Imagine!, has assisted people who have developmental disabilities across Boulder and Broomfield counties in finding gainful employment through supported employment services. The CORE/Labor Source team is passionate about the importance of work and believes that a diverse workforce strengthens society.

Supported employment offers people who have a disability the opportunity to develop vital job skills and become active participants in their communities. CORE/Labor Source clients work hard, pay taxes, and spend their well-earned money in the community.

The benefits extend far beyond helping Imagine!’s clients, however. Businesses using our services are able to reduce recruitment and training expenses, benefit from a diversified employee pool, and enhance their public image. Partnering with CORE/Labor Source is a “win-win” situation that is beneficial to all.

Many businesses in Boulder and Broomfield counties have already discovered the benefits of using CORE/Labor Source work crews as part of their workforce, as demonstrated by the list below. If you own, operate, or work for a business that may also benefit from hiring CORE/Labor Source clients, please contact Tom Riley at 303-775-3244.

Companies and Organizations Using Imagine! Work Crews As Part of Their Workforce

Baha’i Faith Lafayette Center

Boulder Chophouse 

City of Boulder

City of Lafayette

Crooked Creek

Eco-Cycle
Freewave Technologies

G & S Mountain Recyclers
In Clover
Left Hand Brewing Companies 
Oskar Blues Brewery 
Outback Steakhouse – Louisville
Outback Steakhouse – Longmont
Rock Bottom - 144th & Orchard
Rock Bottom – Westminster
The Hungry Toad Bar & Bistro

Triad Technologies

Twisted Pine Brewery

Companies and Organizations Using Imagine! Clients Who Work Independently As Part of Their Workforce

Alfalfa's
Association for Community Living

Albertson’s 
Broomfield United Methodist Church

Hoshi Motors 

Imagine! 

Johnny Carinos

King Soopers

Left Hand Brewing Companies

Life Bridge Church 
McDonald's

Old Chicago

Vitamin Cottage

Waterloo

Whole Foods 

Thank You Thursday

Here’s this week’s roundup of generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation.

Associate ($500-$999)
Jon & Karen Jones

Supporter ($250-$499)
Boulder Creek Events – $265 - Proceeds from 8/13 Twenty Ninth Street LIVE!
Egg Strategy, Inc.
Jim & Linda Karagas
Seal-It-Up

Friend ($1-$249)
Ken & Jan Alford
Mike & Julie Butler
Marty & Helen Goldman

Imagine! Celebration Auction Items
Animal Hospital -- Vet for a Day -- $100
Arvada Center for the Arts – 2 tickets to “Chess” - $11
Boulder Community Hospital – 2 heart scans - $498
Boulder Country Club -- A round of golf for four players -- $350
The Huckleberry – Tea for Two -- $35
Isle Casino Hotel -- one night stay and dinner for two -- $140
Q’s Restaurant -- gift certificate -- $50
Denver Museum of Nature & Science – Passes -- $48
Madcap Theater -- Tickets -- $72
Denver Zoo – family four pack -- $42
Longmont Dairy – gift certificate --$25
Little Monkey Bizness – open play party -- $149
Eldorado Pool -- 8 passes -- $64
Renaissance Hotel -- One night stay and breakfast for two -- $150
Balloon Ride – David and Roberta Levin -- $400
Rick Uhlir – four private golf lessons -- $150

Other In-Kind Items
Denver Boulder Couriers – 1 trip valued at $21
Pat Uhlir – baby toys and books valued at $30

As always, thank you to all of Imagine!’s generous donors.

Interest in Imagine!’s SmartHomes Continues to Grow

Imagine!’s two SmartHomes continue to garner national and even international attention. As the first two homes in the nation to use technology in a comprehensive way to enhance the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities, more and more organizations and thought leaders in the field are recognizing that Imagine!’s innovative and forward-thinking SmartHomes can serve as a model for the future of residential care.

Additionally, interested parties are learning how the various technologies, or SmartSupports, being tested and refined in Imagine!’s SmartHomes can offer solutions geared toward allowing individuals with disabilities to live independently, or with their families and loved ones, for longer periods of time.

For example, more than 500 visitors have taken a tour of either the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder or the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont, and many have toured both homes. People taking the tour have come from all across the nation, and as far away as England, France, and Russia. No matter where the visitors are from, they all leave the tours impressed with how technology is improving the lives of some of our community’s most vulnerable citizens. Learn more about the free tours, or sign up to take a tour yourself, by clicking here.

Taking a tour of Imagine!’s SmartHomes isn’t the only way people are learning about this unique and ambitious project, however. SmartHome staff members have been invited by organizations across the country, from Alaska to Washington D.C. (at the World Bank, no less), to present on SmartHomes and SmartSupports at a wide variety of conferences and events. To date, almost 40 presentations have been made by members of the SmartHome team. To learn more about SmartHome presentations, click here.

SmartHome team members have also begun providing consulting services to other organizations looking to incorporate technology into their services. In just the past three months, Imagine! has consulted on technology plans for organizations based in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Maine.

The desire of so many organizations to learn about this project serves as yet another reminder of how Imagine!'s SmartHomes continue to be recognized as an innovative approach to improving clients’ self-sufficiency and ability to engage with the community while optimizing the efficiency and effectiveness of caregivers.

Colorado Gives Day Is December 6!

Colorado Gives Day is Tuesday, December 6, and Imagine! will again be participating. Donations made online through this blog or our website on December 6 at any of the “Donate Here” buttons will also be eligible for partial matching funds. The “Donate Here” button (seen in the upper right hand corner on this blog) takes you directly to the Community First Foundation site and saves the 5.5% bank fee for credit card donations.

Last year individuals donated $4,675 to Imagine! on Colorado Gives Day, and we received $177.68 in matching funds from the Circle of Giving Incentive Fund. But $8.4 million was donated across Colorado last year, and $320,000 in incentive funds were given out, so we have room to grow!

If you are thinking about making a gift to Imagine! before the end of the calendar year, please consider doing it online through our website on December 6 (you can also designate a particular Imagine! program in the “Any comments or special instructions” box if you would like). The only gifts that are ineligible are donations for which you receive something in return, such as tickets or sponsorships to our Imagine! Celebration.

Mark your calendar for December 6!

Thank You, Governor Hickenlooper

Henry Sobanet, the Director of the Governor’s Office of State Planning and Budget, recently released some of the key components of Governor John Hickenlooper’s budget for Fiscal Year 2012-13. The Governor’s new budget proposal requests resources for 173 people with developmental disabilities in emergency and high risk situations.

Imagine! knows more than 2,800 individuals with developmental disabilities and their families in Boulder and Broomfield counties, hundreds of whom are waiting for State funded services and supports. The financial and emotional challenges that these individuals and their families face twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week are tremendous. The proposed new resources will help provide a safety net, especially when a caregiver can no longer care for their loved one.

On behalf of Imagine!, we would like to take this opportunity to thank Governor Hickenlooper, Chief of Staff Roxanne White, Budget Director Sobanet, and their staff for their hard work on a difficult budget and for their demonstrated commitment to our state’s most vulnerable citizens.

A Thanksgiving Tradition

Dave Query

For the 8th year, Dave Query and the Big Red F Restaurant Group will host a free Thanksgiving Dinner for Imagine! clients and their families. Query is a former Imagine! Foundation board member and owner of Big Red F, which includes Boulder restaurants Centro Latin Kitchen and Refreshment Palace, the Bitter Bar, Jax Fish House, West End Tavern, and Zolo Southwestern Grill, Denver restaurants Jax Fish House and LoLa Coastal Mexican, and the new Jax Fish House in Fort Collins. Query is donating the makings for a delicious Zolo-style Thanksgiving repast with all the trimmings, and the wait staff is volunteering its time. Three seatings are offered, allowing nearly 400 people to enjoy this lovely celebration of Thanksgiving.

Thanks, Dave, for all you do for your community!

Thank You Thursday!

This week’s roundup of donations to the Imagine! Foundation include:

Bronze ($1000-$2,499)
Phil & Yvonne DiStefano – for the Billy Montgomery Room at the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome

Friend ($1-$249)
Kathy Coyne
Paul & Kelley Degarate
Paul Eklund
Highline Capital Corporation
IBM payroll deduction
Jim & Mary Rianoshek

Imagine! Celebration Auction Items
Attitudez Hair & Nail, Ltd. – 3 mini manicures valued at $80
Boulder Philharmonic – Tickets valued at $100
Carelli’s Restaurant – Gift Certificate valued at $50
Colterra – Gift Certificate valued at $50
Dave’s Pristine Carpet Care, LLC – Gift Certificates valued at $300
Haystack Mountain Golf – Foursome valued at $60
Bobby Hills, CMT – 60 minute sports massage valued at $75
Hotel Boulderado – One night stay valued at $269
Lake Valley Golf – Golf for four with carts valued at $300
Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery – Gift Certificates valued at $300
Pasta Jay’s – Gift Certificates valued at $60
Hope Robertson, CEH, RCST, NCLMT – 90 minute massage valued at $90
Christy Russell – Haircut valued at $45
Salt The Bistro – Gift Certificate valued at $50
Thompson House Inn & Tea Room – Tea for Four valued at $60

Other In-Kind Items
Walt & Linda Pounds - Improvements to the Tenino PCA

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

Foundation Board Member Wins “Dancing With The Boulder Stars”

Valorie Simpson

Congratulations are in order for Imagine! Foundation board member Valorie Simpson, who won first place in the 2011 “Dancing with the Boulder Stars.”

Valorie, President of Colorado Business Bank – Boulder, joined seven other local celebrities who were matched with professional dance instructors and went through a 10-week rehearsal process. They performed their dance at the Boulder Theater on Thursday, October 20. Attendees 'voted' for their favorite dancers with $1 per vote – and Valorie received the most votes! Proceeds from the event benefited the YWCA of Boulder County.

Way to hoof it up, Valorie!

Leona Stoecker: Imagine!’s Giving Spark!

Today we’d like to offer a well deserved “congratulations” to Imagine! Foundation board member and past president Leona Stoecker, who on Friday was awarded the Giving Spark Award at the Longmont Community Foundation Giving Celebration.

We’d like to quote here an email that Kathy Coyne, another Foundation board member, wrote to Leona last night after the ceremony, as it is said so beautifully and captures how we all feel. Kathy was attending on behalf of HospiceCare of Boulder & Broomfield Counties, which was a finalist for the Longmont Community Foundation’s Collaborative Excellence Award.

Leona,

It was so nice to see you tonight and I do hope I’m one of the first to congratulate you on the honor and award received at the Longmont Community Foundation Celebration!

You’ve been such a gift to the Longmont community and to Imagine! I can’t thank you enough for your efforts.

I wasn’t surprised, but everyone at my table mentioned how wonderfully you served the organization with your comments upon receiving the award. So perfectly done!

You’re such a treasure and I so appreciate your leadership!

Many thanks and congratulations again--also to your beloved Bernie, for his support of your efforts, as I know that means a lot to you and to our community!

Thanks so much, Kathy, and especially and always to our dear Leona!!

In the pictures above, Leona is shown with her award, and also with her husband Bernie.

Thank You Thursday!

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

Bronze ($1000-$2,499)
Combined Federal Campaign – $1,589.34 (quarterly payment)

Friend ($1-$249)
Dan & Judith Hersh
Don Humphrey
Glennys McPhilimy
MGM & United Artists/Billy Montgomery
Laurence Paddock
Virginia Patterson
Susan Routt
Art & Barb Sward
Harlan & Mary Wagoner

Auction Items for Imagine! Celebration
Boulder Cork Gift Certificate – value = $50
Christina’s Lingerie Gift Certificate - value = $100
Colorado Music Festival – 2 section A tickets for summer 2012 – value = $100
Deb Gravelle – 3 hour sailing lesson at Boulder Reservoir – value = $250
Martini’s Bistro Gift Card – value = $50

Other In-Kind Items
Susan Glairon - Mini-Tramp, Easel, Other Toys - value = $50
Janine Randol – Week at timeshare for two Dayspring staff – value = $400

As always, we thank all of our generous donors. 

Imagine! Celebration – Save the Date: January 27, 2012!

The Imagine! Celebration, the annual fundraising event of the Imagine! Foundation, has a few surprises in store for guests this year! In response to a survey done after the event last year, the 2012 Imagine! Celebration will switch to hors d’oeuvres and food stations for the first part of the evening rather than a sit-down dinner in order to give people more time to socialize and to browse the 200+ auction items that will be available. Guests will then settle into their tables for dessert, coffee, the program, and the live auction. George Karakehian, emeritus member of the Foundation’s board of directors and a current Boulder City Council member, will again add his clever jokes and heartfelt thoughts as emcee. In order to accommodate approximately 425 people, the event will again be held at the Plaza Hotel Longmont (formerly the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center). It’s not too early to put Friday, January 27, 2012 from 5:30-9:30 p.m. on your calendar!

Several new members have joined the Imagine! Celebration Commiteee chaired by Foundation board member Colene Van Winkle and Paige Lawrence who head up the Core Group planners and a newly formed Calling Crew who seek out auction items (see list below). New and exciting items are already coming in, including many in the favorite Live, Food & Wine, Lodging, Entertainment, and Sports & Adventure categories.

Online reservations for the event will again make it quick and easy to reserve individual tickets at $95/each or tables of ten for $1,250, with ticket and table prices remaining unchanged for the past five years in order to encourage people to attend, learn about, and support Imagine!. Invitations will be mailed around the first of the year.

Thanks to its popularity and proven results, electronic bidding will make its fifth appearance with a new feature allowing guests to bid using their smart phones! The Imagine! Foundation was one of the first non-profits in the area to try electronic bidding four years ago, and it is now showing up at more and more events. It’s easy, fun, and allows guests to enter their bids on hand-held tablets, check periodically to see what items they are winning, and find “bargains,” all without having to leave their group.

Be sure to check the Imagine! website as we add our sponsors, our live auction items, and more about the festivities. See you on January 27thth!

Imagine! Celebration Committee

CORE GROUP
Colene Van Winkle, Chairperson
Paige Lawrence, Chairperson
Deb Gravelle
Don Sullivan

CALLING CREW
Teresa Brooks
Patrick Krause
Lisa Fiero
Mallory Montazzoli
Kathy Montgomery
Jackie Nelson
Michelle O’Brien
Denise Stearns
Gina Stobenau

Thank You Thursday!

This week’s donations to the Imagine! Foundation include:

Bronze ($1000-$2,499)
John & Susie Hayes
Imagine! Employees - First Quarter transfer of Imagine! Employee Payroll Deductions = $1,848!
One Lafayette – A grant of $1,000 from the City of Lafayette for Imagine!’s Emergency Fund to cover a portion of the emergency needs of Lafayette residents with developmental disabilities

Associate ($500-$999)
Fletcher & Janie Brown
Rick & Sue Jay
Pete & Gayla Lindquist

Supporter ($250-$499)
Santa’s House Project – we receive proceeds from their holiday open house every year with funds directed to Imagine!’s Dayspring department

Friend ($1-$249)
Bob & Cindy Baxt
Charlene Laughlin

Auction Items for Imagine! Celebration Dinner and Auction
Colorado National Golf Club – Foursome with cart – Value = $300

Other In-Kind Items
Carpenter Fence, Inc., Longmont – Fencing Installation at Imagine! home in Louisville –
Value = $165

As always, thanks to all of our generous donors!

Thank You Thursday!

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

Cash Gifts
Alex & Nancy Ariniello
CivilArts
Darrell & Pat Fanning
Carol Lindquist
Frances McCarty
Gene & Susan Mossberg
Gordon & Pamela Pedrow
The Philoptochos Society of Sts. Peter & Paul Greek Orthodox Church
Jim & Sue Rector
Lee & Bev Springer
Ken & Ruth Wright
iGive.com - $41.27 (sign up for free at iGive.com and shop as usual at many of your favorite online sites that will then donate a percentage of your purchase to the Imagine! Foundation).


Auction Items For Our 2012 Imagine! Celebration Dinner and Auction
Hampton Inn & Suites Denver Downtown – one night weekend stay valued at $195
Colorado Athletic Club - 1 mo. dual membership w/ two personal training sessions valued at $500


Other In-Kind Gifts
Gait Trainer (walker for small children) from Joyce Frailey, valued at $150
Two courier trips from Denver Boulder Couriers valued at $42

We are so appreciative of all of generous donors!

Imagine! Client Art Show A Big Hit

We mentioned a while back that participants in Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source art class were displaying some of their artwork at an Art Show hosted by RE/MAX Alliance in Longmont.

The show was a big hit. If you weren’t able to make it, below are some pictures of the fantastic artwork that was displayed at the show.

Our thanks to Julie Markiewicz, a realtor at RE/MAX Alliance and a mother of one of the consumers in CORE/Labor Source classes. Julie was the individual who originally contacted CORE/Labor Source to set up this wonderful opportunity and has always been a huge supporter of CORE/Labor Source.

Thank You Thursday!

This week’s roundup of donations to the Imagine! Foundation include:

• A generous donation from Richard Lirtzman

• $4 from participants in IBM’s payroll deduction program

As always, thanks to all of Imagine!’s generous donors.

Thank You Todd Saliman

Last night at Imagine!’s Board of Directors meeting, Imagine! SmartHome resident Gerald presented Todd Saliman with a framed piece of artwork that Gerald painted himself in honor of Todd’s tireless work on behalf of Imagine! and individuals with developmental disabilities across the state of Colorado.

Todd’s resume is quite impressive. From 1994 to 2002, Todd served in the Colorado House of Representatives. During his term he spent four years on the influential Joint Budget Committee. From 1996 to 2002 Todd also served on Imagine!’s Board of Directors. From 2003 to 2006, Todd served as a lobbyist for Imagine!, and in 2006 Todd was appointed by then Colorado governor Bill Ritter to head the state’s Office of State Planning and Budgeting. After helping with the transition into the current Governor John Hickenlooper’s administration, Todd has returned to lobbying for Imagine! and other clients, joining forces with Tanya Kelly-Bowry as part of the Policy Matters lobbying firm.

The common thread running through all of Todd’s accomplishments is a deep commitment to protecting some of Colorado’s most vulnerable citizens – individuals with developmental disabilities. His often heroic efforts during a time of deep economic uncertainty has meant that funding for services in our state has avoided some of the deep and painful budget cuts that otherwise may have hit our field. As Imagine! CEO Mark Emery put it, “There isn’t one individual with a developmental disability in our state that hasn’t benefited because of Todd’s work.”

In the picture below, Imagine! CEO Mark Emery (far left) claps as Todd (second from left) holds up Gerald’s painting. Greg Wellems (second from right) and Gerald look on.

Congratulations Todd, and thanks for all you have done for us!