Below you will find videos from the amazing evening, but first, there are some people who deserve thanks:
Imagine! Foundation Board of Directors President Don Brown served as the MC for the event, and he nailed it! His hard work and preparation showed in his smooth and passionate delivery of a very mission-centric program.
Imagine! Board of Directors member Bella Larsen joined Don on stage at the beginning of the program, and her speech, full of joy and humor, won the crowd over instantly.
Elena Ciaravino, Program Director for Imagine!’s Out & About department, spoke to the crowd on a very personal level about how the support of Imagine!’s many generous donors helped to create a world of opportunity for all abilities.
Auctioneer Gary Corbett kept the evening flowing and the bidding rising.
Katie Hawkins and the Imagine! Celebration Committee have clearly hit their stride – the time and effort put into the pre-planning of the event clearly showed throughout the evening.
Imagine!’s PR of Fred Hobbs and Scott Wendelberger were heavily invested in the creation of the program, and were instrumental in its success.
Imagine! IT Director Kevin Harding ran the show, switching frequently between videos and PowerPoint presentations without ever missing a beat.
Elizabeth Hill and Caroline Siegfried served as trouble shooters for the evening, and both handled the role with amazing calm and aplomb.
Heather Sabo was the hero of the behind-the-scenes night. She and the staff volunteers faced some unforeseen challenges and she, and they, handled it with grace and perseverance, always keeping the guest experience front and center.
Speaking of staff volunteers, close to 30 Imagine! employees gave up their Saturday evening to volunteer at the event, a powerful testament to their commitment to Imagine!’s mission.
And of course, Imagine! Foundation Executive Director Patti Micklin, who begins work on next year’s Imagine! Celebration almost immediately following the conclusion of the previous year’s event, was the mastermind behind a record setting year in terms of money raised, but also in terms of sharing Imagine!’s mission and awareness of the amazing contributions people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are bringing to our community every single day!
Now, some videos.
To introduce the crowd to Imagine!, a short overview of our work started the evening off right.
A little later in the program, a short video was shown to demonstrate the impact of Imagine! donors and how those funds are used to help create fulfilling lives of possibilities among the people we serve.
The last video was certainly not least. As is the case every year, the evening featured the debut of a video highlighting an individual in Imagine!’s services. This year the person highlighted was Shelly, who lives in Imagine!’s Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont and accepts services from CORE/Labor Source. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house after the video was shown, and Shelly received a lengthy standing ovation when she came up on stage.
Finally, we’ll share a few live videos taken before and during the program. The videos are a little shaky, but the words and the message are not.
