Welcome Patti!

Imagine! and the Imagine! Foundation are pleased to announce that Patti Micklin, currently the Director of Development at Via Mobility Services in Boulder, will become the new Executive Director of the Imagine! Foundation upon the retirement of Susan LaHoda on August 1, 2014. Patti brings 25 years of development experience to the position, having raised millions of dollars to improve the lives of others. Prior to her time at Via, she was the Development Associate and Officer at Rocky Mountain Institute in Boulder and the Development Director at St. Martin’s Episcopal School in Metairie, LA. She is the parent of a daughter who is served by Imagine! so will also bring a wealth of first-hand understanding of disabilities and Imagine! services to the job. We look forward to welcoming Patti as she joins the Imagine! staff on July 21.

Thank You Thursday!

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

Cash Donations

Supporter ($250-$499)
Rick & Jackie Nelson

Friend ($1-$249)
Ja Elliott – For Wish List (will be used towards barrier-free lift at 19th Street Group Home)
Kathy Oliver
Reel Payroll, Inc. – Foreign royalties from Billy Montgomery’s performance in Rain Man

In-Kind Donations

Associate ($500-$999)
Sage and Savory Catering – Discounts on food, labor, and gratuity for the Donor Recognition Reception

Supporter ($250-$499)
Liquor Mart – Wine, beer, soft drinks, and ice for the Donor Recognition Reception

Friend ($1-$249)
Kristie Anderson – Puzzles, xylophone, games, toys, bouncy chair and nursing cape
Lafayette Florist – Flower arrangements for the Donor Recognition Reception

 As always, we thank all of our generous donors. 

Wish List Wednesday

Welcome to the latest edition of The Wish List. Included below are items that would augment and enhance Imagine! programs and services for the individuals we serve and would be much appreciated. If you are able to provide an item, please contact Susan LaHoda at slahoda@imaginecolorado.org or 303-926-6443. Pick-up for large items can be provided, and your contribution is tax deductible. If you prefer to provide a cash gift to be used for the purchase of one of the items below, that would also be most welcome. Please check out this blog every Wednesday to see new Wish List Items.

Today’s Wish List items:

• Supplies for Dayspring's “Messy Play Day”(June 9) for toddlers 0-3 years old: finger paint, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, inflatable pool toys, small plastic kiddie pools, Jell-o, shaving cream, and cornstarch 
•  Garden supplies and plants for the 19th Street Group Home in Boulder 
• Luggage for children with developmental disabilities entering a new foster care placement 
• A new set of silverware and a new dish set for Garden Place in Longmont 
• Non-fabric couch and chairs for Manhattan Apartments in Boulder

Thank You, Qualcomm Employees

Today we’d like to send a big “thank you” to the Qualcomm Foundation for supporting Qualcomm employee volunteers who donated their time to Imagine! as part of the QCares Experience.

According to the Qualcomm website:

“Qualcomm's corporate volunteerism program encourages employee involvement in the community, and is our way of connecting our diverse employee base to local volunteer opportunities.

QCares creates many opportunities for its employees, friends and families to participate in charitable events. Serving a wide range of needs, our employees are helping people with disabilities, improving the environment, feeding and clothing the homeless, and caring for animals. QCares organizes volunteer team building projects as special opportunities for internal departments to foster teamwork and celebrate accomplishments, while simultaneously contributing to the improvement of our communities.”

Yesterday, a group of QCares volunteers, pictured below, helped clean vehicles used by Imagine!’s Out & About department. We are so appreciative of their help!

Thank You Thursday!

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

Silver ($2,500-$4,999)
Anonymous

Supporter ($250-$499)
Janet Martin – Wish List Rockies tickets for 20 individuals for Out & About’s Catalog Program

Friend ($1-$249)
Kent Arnold
In Honor of Emily Micklin 
  From Jeff & Judy Gass

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

Wish List Wednesday

Welcome to the latest edition of The Wish List. Included below are items that would augment and enhance Imagine! programs and services for the individuals we serve and would be much appreciated. If you are able to provide an item, please contact Susan LaHoda at slahoda@imaginecolorado.org or 303-926-6443. Pick-up for large items can be provided, and your contribution is tax deductible. If you prefer to provide a cash gift to be used for the purchase of one of the items below, that would also be most welcome. Please check out this blog every Wednesday to see new Wish List Items.

Today’s Wish List items:

• New dining room set that will serve eight for the Foothills Group Home in Boulder 
• Essential Tremor adaptive utensils, clothing, computer aids, writing devices, etc. for individuals with hand tremors at the Foothills Group Home in Boulder 
• New carpet for two bedrooms at Garden Place in Longmont 
• New barrier free lifts for moving individuals from wheelchair to bed or bath (being safer for clients and for staff) at the 19th Street Group Home in Boulder 
• American Furniture Warehouse gift certificates for upgrades in furniture at Garden Place in Longmont and at Foothills Group Home in Boulder

Congratulations, Leona!

 

Today we’d like to offer our congratulations to Leona Stoecker, a great friend of Imagine! who has been awarded the prestigious Stan Black Award by the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County.

Leona Stoecker is a truly remarkable woman who has made a tremendous difference in our community. After more than two decades of direct involvement with government service at the local, county, and regional levels, including serving as Mayor of the City of Longmont from 1993-2001, she has since devoted herself to community service in the non-profit sector. In most cases, she has risen quickly to a position of leadership from which she has been able to guide each organization to strengthen and improve itself and the services it provides. It would be difficult to find another person in our area who has made similar contributions of effort and time or who could match Leona’s ability to rapidly understand a need and to involve and inspire just the right people to help.

Leona’s involvement with the Imagine! Foundation typifies her commitment to all of the non-profits she has served. In 2006, the Foundation board sought to increase awareness of its operations in Longmont, where it supported nearly 1,000 vulnerable members of the community. Research and discussion with Longmont residents led the Foundation board to believe that Leona could be the key to that effort. Board members met with Leona in January 2007, and she attended the annual Imagine! Celebration event later that month, followed by a board meeting in March. She was immediately enthusiastic and truly moved by the work Imagine! does in the community. The Imagine! Foundation signed her up then and there, and she jumped right in!

Leona has gone above and beyond even the Foundation’s greatest hopes in bringing the Imagine! message to Longmont. She has spoken to every Rotary Club, the Philanthropic Educational Organization, grandparent groups of children with developmental disabilities, and many other community organizations. She has talked with senior management and reporters at the Longmont Times-Call and has been able to interest them in developing many stories about Imagine! and its services and clients. She has also invited a large number of people to the Imagine! Celebration, has secured auction items for the event, and has donated a “Year of Baked Bread” (which has sold for up to $2,500!) for seven consecutive years. She has even established an endowment at the Longmont Community Foundation in Imagine!’s name.

Leona has developed a very personal relationship with the residents and staff members at Imagine!’s Charles Family SmartHome. She often rides her bike over to the SmartHome with home-baked cookies to share. When she heard that the SmartHome needed a dining room table, she found a beautiful table top at a consignment store, persuaded the owner to donate it, and then found someone to make the table legs! Because of the deep connection she has with the SmartHome’s residents, she has played an integral part in raising community awareness and funding for the facility. A perfect example is the day she spent at the Charity Hole of the Longmont Chamber’s Commerce Cup Golf Tournament in 2009. As each cart rolled up to the hole – for five hours straight – Leona greeted each foursome with a brochure and a story about Imagine! and the Charles Family SmartHome. Because almost every player already knew and respected Leona, she was able to gently but enthusiastically encourage each person’s support. That event and countless other meetings with potential donors, talks to groups, and scores of SmartHome tours that she set up, accompanied, and often led (34 tours to date involving 179 individuals!) have resulted in critical funding being raised. Thanks in great measure to her efforts, nearly $1,180,000 has been secured for the Longmont SmartHome to date, despite the very tight economy.

What is amazing is that the enormous impact she has had through the Imagine! Foundation board is only ONE example of this marvelous woman’s influence, which has been replicated for the many organizations with which she has been involved throughout her adult life.

Congratulations, Leona! We are so fortunate for your support and incredibly grateful for your hard work on behalf of the individuals we serve.

Next Step Group Home Construction Update

Here are the latest construction photos from Imagine!’s Next Step Group Home in Broomfield.

Wood floors are in and headboard/wainscot is being installed

As is ceramic tile work

Casework and laminate flooring is also being installed 

Out of doors work on the septic system has been completed 

Stone work continues and sidewalks have been poured 

Thank You Thursday

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

Friend ($1-$249)
Mutual of America Foundation – Match to donation by Teresa Gray

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

Wish List Wednesday

Welcome to the latest edition of The Wish List. Included below are items that would augment and enhance Imagine! programs and services for the individuals we serve and would be much appreciated. If you are able to provide an item, please contact Susan LaHoda at slahoda@imaginecolorado.org or 303-926-6443. Pick-up for large items can be provided, and your contribution is tax deductible. If you prefer to provide a cash gift to be used for the purchase of one of the items below, that would also be most welcome. Please check out this blog every Wednesday to see new Wish List Items.

Today’s Wish List items:

• Supplies for Dayspring’s “Messy Play Day” for toddlers 0-3 years old: finger paint, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, inflatable pool toys, small plastic kiddie pools, Jell-o, shaving cream, and cornstarch - all good materials for a sensory experience that allows young children with developmental delays or disabilities to explore and learn in a fun and safe environment
• Welcome bags for children with developmental disabilities entering a new foster care placement (blankets, PJs, stuffed animals, etc.) 
•  iPads (Many departments use these for clients); heavy duty iPad covers 
•  A set of four kitchen chairs for the Garden Place Home in Longmont

Recognizing Imagine! Foundation Donors

On Wednesday, May 7, about 90 people attended the Imagine! Foundation’s Donor Recognition event. Donors to the Imagine! Foundation are vital to Imagine!’s success – we can’t do what we do without the support of our community. And what fantastic support we have – since being established in 2000, the Imagine! Foundation has raised $6,112, 258.00! That money goes to enhance Imagine!’s services and to offer more opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities to become contributing members of their communities.

The Imagine! Foundation is extremely grateful to Walt Pounds, Mark Emery, and Fred Hobbs for putting on an insightful, celebratory, and heartfelt program for the event. And thanks to Susan LaHoda and Heather Sabo for helping to organize the event, and to Kevin Harding, Mia Sanchez-O’Dell, and Gary Stebick for helping out at the event. It is such a pleasure to be able to thank and get caught up with our donors and not be asking for anything!

Enjoy some pictures from the event below.

Katie Hawkins, Dale Charles, Susan Sidwell, John Sidwell

Bob Charles, Gene Shaw

Leona Stoecker, Patti Micklin, David Micklin, Bernie Stoecker

Trent and Jennifer Gustafson

Sandy Bracken, Walt Pounds, Charles Holmes, Mia Sanchez O'Dell

Check out a slideshow from the event, showing what a tremendous impact donors have had on Imagine!.

Next Step Group Home Construction Update

Here are the latest construction photos from Imagine!’s Next Step Group Home in Broomfield.

Septic System installation

Walls are textured and ready for paint… and the hardwood for flooring is on site and the installers are on-site to start working.

Next up, after the hardwood floors are installed (scheduled to be completed late this week), will be ceramic tile install in bathrooms, interior trim work, interior painting and casework.

Stay tuned!

Thank You Thursday!

Recent generous donors to the Imagine! Foundation include:

Friend ($1-$249)
In Honor of Annabelle McIntosh-Schwartz
  From Marilyn McIntosh – For Dayspring
Thelma Whitaker

As always, we thank all of our generous donors. 

Wish List Wednesday

Welcome to the latest edition of The Wish List. Included below are items that would augment and enhance Imagine! programs and services for the individuals we serve and would be much appreciated. If you are able to provide an item, please contact Susan LaHoda at slahoda@imaginecolorado.org or 303-926-6443. Pick-up for large items can be provided, and your contribution is tax deductible. If you prefer to provide a cash gift to be used for the purchase of one of the items below, that would also be most welcome. Please check out this blog every Wednesday to see new Wish List Items.

Today’s Wish List items:

• Tickets to fun events so groups and staff can attend 
• Backpacks, toys, and birthday presents for children with developmental disabilities in foster care 
• iPads (Many departments use these for clients ); heavy duty iPad covers 
• A small garden shed for the 19th Street Group Home in Boulder

Thank You Thursday!

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

Cash Donations 

Gold ($5,000-$9,999) 
Hannelore Jend

Silver ($2500-$4,999)
Mutual of America – Silver Sponsorship of Imagine! Celebration 2014

Supporter ($250-$499) 
Longmont Community Foundation – $350 Grant Award for Imagine!’s “Charitable Story”

In-Kind Donations

Associate ($500-$999)
Mark Zentner – Treadmill for Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome (Item from Wish List!)

Friend ($1-$249)
Abby Anderson – Rental for baseball field for Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome vs Charles Family SmartHome softball game
Joanne Graham – Toys for Dayspring

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.