Robert's Art

This blog post was submitted by Gary Stebick, Imagine!'s Communications Coordinator.

Recently I was at Foothills Group Home taking a photo of one of the staff members for a newsletter article about an award she received.  When I was leaving, Robert, one of the residents of the home, was near the front door and politely asked if there was anything he could do to be in the Imagine! newsletter. I told him I was certain there was, and asked him what his interests are. He mentioned art, and said he had a picture in his bedroom that he drew in high school that I might be interested in seeing.

Robert proceeded to show me the art and told me the process of how he decided what to draw in the picture. Robert‘s art teacher at Jefferson High School suggested that Robert find some pictures that he liked in magazines and use them for models for different parts of his art. Robert started by choosing to draw the picture with charcoal and pencil. He saw a picture of mountains that he liked, so mountains was the first thing he drew. Then he drew the large ship, fashioned after a large ship he saw in a photo. Then he found a photo of a man in a rowboat which he liked so he drew a man in a rowboat next. As he continued looking through magazines, he saw a picture of a helicopter and decided to put a helicopter into his drawing. Finally, since there were two ships in the picture he added the ocean, and that’s how he came to draw this wonderful piece of art.

Robert’s interest in art began when he was a child drawing in coloring books. Navy blue is his favorite color, followed by red and orange. Animals are his favorite thing to draw. When asked what he likes to do, Robert replied, “I like to help people, that's my favorite thing to do.”

The piece of art shown here has sentimental value to Robert. He wrapped the picture and gave it to his grandfather as a present.  Unfortunately his grandfather died unexpectedly soon afterwards. Robert’s grandmother knew the artwork was special to Robert and she returned it to him to serve as a reminder of his grandfather, a former Marine whose picture hangs on Robert’s wall near his artwork.

This piece of art that he drew in high school hangs over Robert's bed.  

Robert's favorite thing to do is helping people.

Thank You, City Of Lafayette

Today we’d like to send a big “thank you” to the City of Lafayette, CO, for its recent grant of $1,500 to Imagine! for Emergency Funds. The grant was given as part of the City’s “One Lafayette” program, which finances a community fundraiser to help local nonprofit organizations provide essential services.

Items that One Lafayette grant recipient programs help provide include:

• Food, shelter, and other emergency family assistance programs
• Medical care for low-income families and the uninsured
• Support and services for at-risk children
• Transportation, support, independence, and dignity for the elderly, developmentally disabled, and physically challenged
• Tutoring, mentoring, and leadership programs for young people

Funding from One Lafayette will be used to cover a portion of Imagine!'s Emergency Fund distributions to Lafayette residents with developmental disabilities during Fiscal Year 2013. Through the Emergency Fund, Imagine! provides limited financial assistance to help individuals served by Imagine! meet urgent or extraordinary needs not covered by Medicaid or other funding sources. For example, over the past year, with support from the City, Imagine! provided $9,646 in emergency support to 25 residents of Lafayette for dental work, respite care, bed bug extermination, appliances, groceries, diapers, and a high chair for a young child receiving Early Intervention services. Overall, Imagine! distributed $97,317 to grant 156 Emergency Fund requests throughout Boulder and Broomfield Counties during the last year.

The City of Lafayette will be distributing checks to all of the recipients of One Lafayette funds at their next City Council meeting, to be held Tuesday, October 2, beginning at 5:30.

Thank you, City of Lafayette, for your demonstrated commitment to some of your community’s most vulnerable citizens.

Thank You Thursday!

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

Cash Donations

Supporter ($250-$499)
Daniel & Sandra Stevens

In-Kind Donations

Friend (Up to $249)
Liquor Mart – Donation of all beverages for the Summer Imagine!/Imagine! Foundation Board Get Together

As always, we thank all of our generous donors. 

Vote Abhaya!

Imagine!’s very own Abhaya Gurung is a finalist for the Irwin Siegel Agency Direct Support Professional (DSP) of the year! This is a very prestigious national award, and Abhaya was selected out of many nominations because of his unwavering commitment to the individuals he serves.

Help Abhaya out by voting for him online by clicking on this link. 

Learn more about the great work Abhaya does by clicking here.

Please share this post and tell all your friends to vote Abhaya!

Thank You Thursday!

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

Cash Donations

Supporter ($250-$499)
The Philoptochos Society of Sts. Peter & Paul Greek Orthodox Church

In-Kind Donations

Platinum ($10,000 +)
Walt Pounds -- 18 file cabinets, seven lateral files, one 5-foot round table, several rectangular work tables, three work stations, and 40 chairs, plus transportation, moving, and assembly of all items at two Imagine! sites

Friend (Up to $249)
Coal Creek Bowling Center - Discounted rates on games and shoe rental for Out & About participants on Friday Night bowling nights
Denver Boulder Couriers – One courier trip

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

Thank You From Dayspring

Imagine!’s Dayspring department has released its catalog of Community Calendar Activities for September – December 2012.

The Community Calendar Activities (CCA) program brings children aged 0-3 with developmental disabilities and delays (and their families) into community facilities such as recreation centers, dance studios, and children’s museums for group play, educational opportunities, and fitness activities with the support of an Imagine! Pediatric Occupational Therapist and an Early Childhood Special Educator. Each session is geared toward encouraging motor, sensory, social, emotional, cognitive, and/or speech and language development. As the Therapist and Educator assist the children, they model for parents the behaviors that encourage and support each child’s individual development in a community play setting. CCA helps build the confidence of parents as their children participate in activities in the community, while empowering community businesses and nonprofits to feel comfortable about welcoming children with special needs.

Dayspring would like to acknowledge the following for their generous support of Community Calendar Activities, which would not be possible without their ongoing help.

Honoring Imagine!'s DSPs

September 9 - 15 is National Direct Support Professionals (DSP) Recognition week, and in conjunction with that, Imagine! has submitted a nomination for 19th Street Group Home Residential Counselor Abhaya Gurung for the Irwin Siegel Agency’s 2012 DSP Recognition Award. Thanks to Innovations’ Marie Handlin and Vanessa Bishop for submitting outstanding letters of support for Abhaya, pictured here with one of his favorite people, Dasha.

Below are just a few of the comments taken from the nominations for Abhaya.

Marie Handlin, Innovations Host Home Coordinator wrote, “Abhaya brings hard work, great care, respect, and professionalism to his job on a consistent basis. He is one of those guys who does it all, and does it well and with a smile on his face. The care he provides is kind, compassionate, and with great efficiency. I know he is a consumer favorite, too, as you will hear one of the consumers who lives at the 19th Street Group Home saying his name repeatedly in adoration whenever he is on shift.”

Vanessa Bishop, Innovations Host Home Coordinator wrote, “Abhaya advocates for the consumers at 19th Street Group Home like they are his family. He spends an extra 15 minutes here and there on Activities of Daily Living sheets, not because he has to, but because he genuinely enjoys spending time with consumers and knows the importance of making people smile. Every morning he would greet one of the residents with a, “Buenos Dias senorita”, and her face would light up with a huge smile.”

And in stating why it is important to him to be a Direct Support Professional, Abhaya wrote, “I feel that showing love, empathy, and compassion towards your fellow human beings is a very important virtue to have. I get this opportunity while caring for the residents at 19th Street Group Home, and the experience also enriches my life. So many of us are never happy with what we have. We always want more of the material things which we think will make us happy. But after working with people with developmental disabilities, I don't take the things I have for granted. I cherish the good health, family, friends, and life that I have, and try to enjoy them to the fullest. I do confess though that sometimes I wish I would win the Powerball jackpot; but deep down inside, I know that I have won it may times over.”

Congratulations Abhaya, and thanks to all Imagine!’s DSPs. Please know that you and your work are highly valued and appreciated.

Thank You Thursday!

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

Friend ($1-$249)
Kathy Coyne
In Memory of David LaHoda
  from the Imagine! Celebration Core Group: Colene Van Winkle, Paige Lawrence, Don Sullivan, and Deb Gravelle
In Honor of Brian Staiger
  from Rose Staiger
United Way of Tri-County Payroll Deduction (on behalf of Robert Kretsch)

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

Thank You Thursday!

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

Cash Donations

Platinum ($10,000+)
Safeway Foundation – $10,000 grant for Labor Source

Associate ($500-$999)
Barbara Pozzi – for new Broomfield group home

Friend ($1-$249)
East Boulder Optimist Club 
Rebecca Herman
Rick & Jackie Nelson

In-Kind Gifts

In-Kind Associate ($500-$999)
Dick Livingston – iPad and accessories for testing and training
Mountain Kids – Space and free admission for gym time for Dayspring families

In-Kind Friend ($1-$249)
Airborne Gymnastics - discounted rates for Dayspring families Jan.-June 2012
B & C Bounce Town - discounted rates for Dayspring families Jan.-June 2012
Pam Felderman – books and baby clothes
Sunflower Farms - discounted rates for Dayspring families Jan.-June 2012
WOW! Children’s Museum - discounted rates for Dayspring families Jan.-June 2012

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

 

Congratulations, Sue

Congratulations are in order for Sue Deans, former editor of the Daily Camera, for being honored recently as the Boulder Rotary Club's Rotarian of the Year award.

Sue is a former member of the Imagine! Foundation Board of Directors, and continues to serve on the Foundation’s marketing committee. Her support of Imagine! over the years has been invaluable.

Which is why it is no surprise that Sue was selected as Boulder’s Rotarian of the Year. This prestigious award is given to a member who has made a significant impact on the Boulder Rotary Club and its programs and projects throughout the year. Sue has been a powerful force for good in our community for many years, and in many ways, and we feel so fortunate to be associated with her.

Congratulations, Sue, on this well deserved honor.

Imagine! and AbleLink: A Great Partnership

Today we’d like to share a video highlighting how AbleLink Technologies and Imagine! are partnering to create new technological solutions for individuals with developmental disabilities.

AbleLink's pioneering research and award-winning products have a common purpose: To enable individuals with cognitive disabilities to experience a more self-determined and fulfilled life. Their innovations represent a new class of empowering technology characterized by a person-centered design philosophy that results in making everyday technologies such as phones, computers, and PDA's accessible to people with cognitive barriers.

We are honored to be working side-by-side with AbleLInk to provide more opportunities for independence and meaningful community interaction for those we serve.



Can't see the video? Click here.

Welcome New Board Members

The Imagine! Foundation has elected three new board members: Richard Ackerman and Lynn Curtis of Boulder and Chuck Sisk of Louisville. Alexander (Sandy) Bracken will serve a second year as the Foundation’s board president. We welcome our new board members, and thank them for their commitment to serving some of our community’s most vulnerable citizens.



Richard Ackerman



Alexander (Sandy) Bracken

Lynn Curtis



Chuck Sisk



CORE/Labor Source Thanks Supported Employment Business Partners

On Thursday, August 2, Imagine!'s CORE/Labor Source department hosted a Business Partner Appreciation Party which was held at Oskar Blues Brewery in Longmont. Business partners throughout Boulder and Broomfield counties were recognized for supporting their community by hiring people with developmental disabilities.

Since 1984, CORE/ Labor Source has assisted people who have disabilities across Boulder and Broomfield counties in finding gainful employment through supported employment services. Supported employment offers people who have a disability the opportunity to develop vital job skills and become active participants in their communities.

The benefits extend far beyond helping our clients, however. Businesses using our services are able to reduce recruitment and training expenses as they benefit from a diversified employee pool. Partnering with CORE/Labor Source is a “win-win” situation that is beneficial all around.

Below are some fun pictures from the event. Letosha, who receives supported employment services through CORE/Labor Source, served as a great ambassador for the program and handed out certificates of appreciation thanking each business partner personally. If you are a patron of any of the businesses below, be sure to tell them “thanks” on behalf of Imagine! next time you’re there.

Association for Community Living

Amcon

All business who attended received a framed certificate of appreciation

CORE/Labor Source's Kate Veeder with Nick, owner of Georgia Boys BBQ, which did a fantastic job catering the event.

HungryToad Pub

In Clover

Oskar Blues Brewery with a lot of Imagine! people

Outback Steakhouse Louisville and Longmont

The list of CORE/Labor Source business partners invited to attend the event. Some businesses have hired work crews and some employ independent hires.

Timberline Mechanical

Triad Technologies

Twisted Pine Brewery

Imagine! Artists Out In The Community

In the next few weeks, there are several opportunities for people to support the many talented artists who receive support from Imagine!.

For example, the Super Mini Walnut Café, located at 2770 Arapahoe Road, Suite 116, in Lafayette, (in the Atlas Valley Shopping Center at the southwest corner of 95th and Arapahoe) is currently displaying art created by artists in Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source classes.

The art (an example of which is shown below) is on display for approximately six more weeks, so there is plenty of time to stop in and support a local business that is promoting the work of Imagine! consumers. The Super Mini Walnut Café is open from 7:00 AM until 3:30 PM seven days a week.

Additionally, participants in Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source program have been invited to take part in the Boulder International Fringe Festival at Naropa University. This is the second year they will participate in the festival.

Performers will be presenting original material developed in classes at the CORE/Labor Source day program. Performance pieces will include dance, music, theatre, and live readings. The event will take place on Saturday, August 18 at 1:00 PM at the Performing Arts Center at Naropa University, 2130 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder. Admission to the festival is free but donations are accepted. Please try to stop by to enjoy a wonderful production and to support the performers.

We hope to see you there!

Thank You, Safeway Foundation!

Today, we’d like to send a great big “thank you” to the Safeway Foundation for a donation of $10,000 to the Imagine! Foundation to help support services for individuals with one or more developmental disabilities.

Safeway hosted a check presentation yesterday at the their store located at 28th and Iris in Boulder. The presentation ceremony was attended by members of Imagine!’s Board of Directors, members of the Imagine! Foundation Board of Directors, Safeway employees, and, perhaps most importantly, Joe Hansen.

Joe receives services from Imagine!, is on the Imagine! Board of Directors, and is a longtime Safeway employee (he’s worked there since 2001). In 2010, Joe and his mother wrote letters of support to the Safeway Foundation for a grant to Imagine!. Since that time, the Safeway Foundation has given three donations of $10,000 each to the Imagine! Foundation! Wow!

We are so very grateful for Safeway’s continued support of our community. Please enjoy the photos below from yesterday’s check presentation ceremony.

Thank You Thursday

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

In-Kind Gifts

In-Kind Friend ($1-$249)
Athena West – Ride-on-Toy

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

Thank You, Herbert Parker Trust

Today, we’d like to say “thank you” to the Herbert Parker Trust for its recent grant of $3,000 to support Imagine!’s Dayspring Community Calendar Activities Program.

The Herbert Parker Trust provides funding for many programs, including program dedicated to the care and education of children with intellectual disabilities. The Trust is administered by Wells Fargo.

Imagine!’s Dayspring Community Calendar Activities Program introduces local families 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.

This is the fourth time the Herbert Parker Trust has provided a grant to Imagine! for the Community Calendar Activities Program, providing a total of $7,000 to support this vital program.

Thank you, Herbert Parker Trust, for your continued and generous support!

Thank You Thursday!

Thank You Thursday!

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

Cash Donations

Friend ($1-$249)

Dan & Sandra Stevens

In Memory of Isabelle Conner from Reed Wahlberg

In-Kind Gifts

In-Kind Friend ($1-$249)

Indulge Bakery – 50% off of cake for retirement of Marianne Nick (34-year Imagine! employee!)

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

Imagine! Employees “Transcend $10,000”

Congratulations and many thanks to Imagine! employees for raising $10,492 to help support Imagine! consumers and for reaching the “Transcend $10,000” goal!

“Transcend $10,000" is Imagine!’s Employee Donation program. This year’s total is 75% more than what employees contributed last fiscal year. Wow! The gifts include payroll deductions, donations through Colorado Gives Day and the Imagine! Celebration, and individual checks and credit card payments.

The Imagine! Foundation’s overall goal for FY13 is a 10% increase in revenue, so, applying that to employee donations, we are setting a new goal of $11,500. Considering the generosity and dedication of our employees, we think we will reach that goal.

Thanks to all of the Imagine! employees who participated.

Thank You Thursday!

Thank You Thursday!

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

Cash Donations This Week 

Gold ($5,000-$9,999)
Longs Peak Arches, Inc. (McDonald’s Longmont) – for Charles Family SmartHome

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

Herbert Parker Trust/Wells Fargo – grant of $3000 for Dayspring’s Community Calendar Activities program

Friend ($1-$249)

In Honor of the Bar Mitzvah of Mike Gehr
  from David & Rachel Gehr
  from Keith & Judith Josephson

Mark Zentner

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

Dayspring’s Messy Play Day A Hit!

Imagine!’s Dayspring department hosts Community Calendar Activities throughout the year designed to introduce families of children with developmental delays and disabilities to places in our community that offer great activities and opportunities for children to meet their goals through fun and play. All Community Calendar activities encourage motor, sensory, social-emotional, and cognitive and speech-language development.

On June 27th, Dayspring held its annual Messy Play Day at the playground behind Imagine!’s Dixon St. office. It’s one of the most fun Community Calendar Activities, and definitely the most messy! This year, there was painting on a large vinyl sheet, sand, bubbles, water to play in and to “paint” cement with, Jell-O to squish hands in, oobleck (cornstarch & water mixture), and a swimming pool with 20 cans of shaving cream sprayed into it that kids could either just touch or climb into.

Some kids were covered in shaving cream, others were more tentative about the variety of textures and sensations – but everyone seemed to have a good time. In all, 25 children who receive services from Imagine!’s Dayspring department along with 13 of their siblings and their families attended.  

Words can’t truly describe this event. Thanks to the Dayspring crew for creating such a fun and valuable learning experience.

Thank You Thursday!

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

This week’s roundup includes the end of the year totals of Imagine! employee gifts through the Payroll Deduction portion of Imagine!’s Employee Donation Program “Transcend $10,000.” A special thanks is needed for all of the Imagine! employees who gave through this program, going above and beyond to demonstrate their commitment to Imagine! and the people we serve.  
Cash Donations This Week

Bronze ($1000-$2,499)
Holland/Ladd Family Foundation

Associate ($500-$999)
Susan LaHoda
John Mehaffy
Mia Sanchez-O’Dell
Jodi Walters
Chuck Wellman

Supporter ($250-$499)
Mark Emery
Erin Fleming
Martha Heimbaugh
Eva Klemens
Caroline Siegfried
Greg Wellems
Sterling Wind

Friend ($1-$249)
Alex Andrews
Rick Brown
Helen Calvo
Carol Chesser
Sandra Crowell
James Faulstich
Lisa Fiero
Susan Gabriel
Trent Gustafson
Fred Hobbs
Kimberly Kane
Maureen Kelly
Bill & Laura Koch
Patrick Krause
Colette Marie
Kevin Nelson
Rebecca Novinger
Elizabeth Reed
Heather Sabo
Gail Scott
Liz Smokowski
Chantelle Tweten
Phyllis Villar

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

Thank You, Qualcomm Foundation and QCares Experience

Today we’d like to send a big “thank you” to the Qualcomm Foundation for a recent grant, and more importantly, 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.”

The nine Qualcomm volunteers who visited Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source Boulder headquarters on May 17 certainly contributed to the improvement of our community. The volunteers helped clean some of Imagine!’s vehicles and did some general maintenance around the CORE/Labor Source building. More importantly, they interacted with participants in various CORE programs, meeting their obligation to community in a very tangible way.

By all reports, the volunteers were a gregarious and fun loving bunch, and their enthusiasm was infectious. We sure appreciated having them around. To make things even better, we recently received a letter from the Qualcomm Foundation informing us that they would be providing us a generous grant of $550 “in honor of our participation in the QCares Experience.” We really appreciate their additional support, especially because we already benefitted so much from the volunteers.

From all of us at Imagine!, thank you Qualcomm to your demonstrated commitment to being a good community partner.

Thank You Thursday!

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

Cash Donations This Week

Platinum ($10,000+)
Bob & Judy Charles and Family – for both of Imagine!’s SmartHomes

Silver ($2,500-$4,999)
Kimberly Koester Trust

Bronze ($1000-$2,499)
Imagine! Employee Payroll Deductions

As always, we thank all of our generous donors.

Thank You, Lynn and Helen Clark Fund!

Today, we’d like to say “thank you” to the Lynn and Helen Clark Fund for their recent grant of $1,000 for the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont.

The Lynn and Helen Clark Fund is Fund is administered by Guaranty Bank in Longmont, and was created to benefit individuals living in the St. Vrain Valley School District.

The Lynn and Helen Clark Fund grant will support one of Imagine!’s most ambitious projects. Over the past five years, Imagine! has built, and is currently operating, two SmartHomes. Imagine!’s SmartHomes provide permanent affordable housing for individuals with physical and developmental disabilities, and they incorporate cutting edge technologies to improve the quality and efficiency of services and supports for the residents.

As the first such homes in the nation, Imagine!’s SmartHomes are serving as a model for the future of residential care for people with developmental disabilities. They enhance the lives and independence of residents, augment the effectiveness of staff as caregivers, and provide cost and energy savings to Imagine!.

In addition, the SmartHome model has enormous potential to impact groups of people with related concerns (dementia, autism, chronic mental illness, and Alzheimer’s), as the homes are serving as living laboratories to create and test “SmartSupports” – assistive technologies that can be used in family homes to keep individuals with any kind of cognitive impairment living in their own homes for as long as possible.

Residents of the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome sign “thank you” using American Sign Language.

This is the third grant the Lynn and Helen Clark Fund has given to the Imagine! Foundation for a total of $4,000 in support of our SmartHomes over the years. We are so grateful for their continued generosity.

Awards Season

Imagine! continues to be recognized for excellence in many ways. Check out the latest:

Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source department has been nominated for a Colorado Developmental Disabilities Council (CDDC) Dan B. Davidson “Excellence in Inclusion” Award! The award ceremony will take place July 25 in Denver.

The Awards honor Dan B. Davidson, who died in 1996 at the age of 41. Defying the odds, Davidson had followed his dream of living independently in the community. CDDC celebrates Dan's spirit and memory by recognizing individuals, agencies, and organizations that exemplify visionary practices regarding inclusion in the categories of education, employment, and community.

Congrats, CORE/Labor Source, on this well deserved honor, and good luck!

Also, Imagine!’s Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder is a finalist in the Colorado Green Building Guild (CGBG) and the Boulder County Business Report (BCBR) Best of Boulder Valley Green Buildings awards. The SmartHome is a finalist in the Best Green Multi-Residential Building category.

What a great recognition of the efforts we put into making the home environmentally friendly and to meeting our commitment to our community!

Thanks CGBG and BCBR!

Read more about the Best of Boulder Valley Green Awards here.

Thank You Thursday!

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

Cash Donations This Week

Platinum ($10,000+)
AEC Trust - $10,000 grant for Dayspring’s Community Calendar Activities Program

Gold ($5,000-$9,999)
Micro Motion/Emerson Electric Co -- $5000 Gold Sponsorship of 2012 Imagine! Celebration

Bronze ($1000-$2,499)
Lynn & Helen Clark Fund/Guaranty Bank and Trust Company – Grant for Charles Family SmartHome

Supporter ($250-$499)
Amgen Foundation - Matching Gift for Rick Burdick

Friend ($1-$249)
Tim Hilden & Natalie Smutzler

In-Kind Donations This Week

In-Kind Bronze ($1,000-$2,499)
Jennifer Caracciolo – Emergenetics Training for Imagine!’s Executive Team

In-Kind Supporter ($250-$499)
Cary & Debbie Graus – sofa

As always, we say thank you to all of our donors. 

Thank You, AEC Trust!

Today, we’d like to say “thank you” to the AEC Trust for its recent grant of $10,000 to Imagine! to be directed toward the Imagine! Dayspring Community Calendar Activities Program.

The AEC Trust is a private foundation established in 1980 as a philanthropic, grantmaking organization. It is governed by an Advisory Board that sets policy and is responsible for the review of grants.

Imagine!’s Dayspring Community Calendar Activities Program introduces local families 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.

Thank you, AEC Trust, for your support of some of the youngest individuals served by Imagine!.

Thank You Thursday!

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

Cash Donations This Week

 

Supporter ($250-$499)

Young Americans Center for Financial Education

Friend ($1-$249)

The GE Foundation -- Match for Alfred LeBlang contribution

Arthur & Maria Richmond

Morgan Stanley – Match for Bryan Pieper contribution

In-Kind Donations This Week

In-Kind Associate ($500-$999)

Rick & Jackie Nelson – piano and couch for Labor Source

As always, we offer a hearty “thank you” to all of our generous donors.

Join Imagine! at Millennium Harvest House FAC This Friday

On June 15, Imagine! will be the featured non-profit at the Millennium Harvest House Hotel Friday Afternoon Club (FAC). This Rockin’ The Gardens concert, featuring the band “Soul School,” will take place from 5:30 - 9:30 PM. This is the fourth year that the Millennium has invited Imagine! to participate in the FAC.

Artists/consumers from Imagine! will be on hand, and attendees of the FAC will have opportunities to learn about Imagine! and are welcome to draw and paint with Imagine! artists. This is a very family-friendly event and a great opportunity to observe the work of the artists, as well as to support the Millennium, a longtime donor to Imagine! and an employer of people with developmental disabilities. The Millennium is located at 1345 28th Street, behind the Safeway store on the southwest corner of Arapahoe and 28th Streets.

Hope to see you there!

Thank You, J.M. McDonald Foundation, Inc.

Today, we’d like to say “thank you” to the J.M. McDonald Foundation, Inc., for its recent grant of $5,000 to Imagine! in support of Imagine!’s Assistive Technology Lab.

Imagine!’s Assistive Technology Laboratory (AT Lab) is Imagine!’s new headquarters for helping individuals served by Imagine! to identify, obtain, and learn to use the specific assistive technology devices that will allow them to reach their full potential. Learn more about Imagine!’s AT Lab here.

The J.M. McDonald Foundation, Inc. was created in 1952 by Mr. J. M. McDonald. Over the past 60 years, Trustees of the Foundation have sought to uphold J. M.'s desire to improve education and social programs.

This is not the first time that the J.M. McDonald Foundation, Inc. has supported Imagine!’s goal of using a variety of technologies to improve the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities. In past years, the Foundation has made generous grants to support both the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder and the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont.

Thank you, J.M. McDonald Foundation, Inc. for your continued support of Imagine! and the people we serve!

Thank You Thursday!

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

Cash Donations This Week

Silver ($2,500-$4,999)
Sandy & Sally Bracken

Supporter ($250-$499)
Bob & Beth Davis

Friend ($1-$249)
Joe Hansen

In-Kind Donations This Week

In-Kind Friend ($1-$249)
Denver Boulder Couriers -- One courier trip

As always, we thank all of the donors whose generosity has made such a positive difference in the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities living in Boulder and Broomfield counties.

Young AmeriTowne Citizens Support Imagine!

This past Monday Imagine! received a donation from a very generous and enterprising group of youngsters: 5th graders taking part in Young Americans Center for Financial Education’s Young AmeriTowne program.

What is Young AmeriTowne? A program that teaches school kids about our country’s economic system in a fun and relevant way. The program begins with several weeks of interactive lessons and activities taught by teachers in the classroom. Students learn important economic and business concepts such as supply and demand, budgeting, banking, government workings, and more. They elect a Mayor and Judge, vote on town laws, and apply and interview for jobs in town.

During the culminating event, students put into practice what they have learned when they attend Young AmeriTowne for the day and earn money running a life-like town of 17 businesses.

Part of the program involves teaching the kids about philanthropy, and that’s where the Imagine! donation comes in. At the beginning of the school year, participants in the program selected six organizations, including Imagine!, to receive funds from the program. Through the generosity of the Community First Foundation, hard earned AmeriTowne dollars donated by the fifth graders are converted to real donations, matching the children’s gifts at ten cents per dollar.

In the picture above, you can see Imagine!’s Director of Public Relations Fred Hobbs receiving a check in the amount of $368 from the AmeriTowne Mayor at Monday’s inspiring check presentation ceremony.

Our thanks to the Young Americans Center for Financial Education, the Community First Foundation, and most importantly, to the many kind and giving children who donated!

Thank You, Louis and Harold Price Foundation!

Today, we’d like to say “thank you” to the Louis and Harold Price Foundation for their recent grant of $5,000 to Imagine! to be used for Family Support Grants.

The Louis and Harold Price Foundation is a private charitable foundation dedicated to communities by supporting organizations in Southern California and Colorado as well as national organizations.

In addition to their support of Imagine!, here’s another thing that’s “cool” about the Price Foundation:

The Price Foundation was established in 1951 through the generosity of Mr. Louis Price and his son, Mr. Harold Price. Louis was a founding partner of the Joe Lowe Corporation, a bakery and ice cream supply business famous for the promotion of the Popsicle. Harold followed his father's footsteps by joining the Joe Lowe Corporation in 1928 upon graduation from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business where he obtained a B.S. degree in Economics. From his original position of purchasing agent at the Joe Lowe Corporation, Harold rose through the ranks to the position of Executive Vice President. As Executive Vice President, Harold was responsible for the successful merger in 1965 of the Joe Lowe Corporation with Consolidated Foods Corporation, now known as Sara Lee Corporation.

Through shareholdings in Sara Lee Corporation, Louis and Harold generously funded their foundation and guided its existence for many years as respective Presidents. Since its inception, The Louis and Harold Price Foundation has distributed millions of dollars to U.S. based charities in the areas of community welfare, health, and education, as well as support of programs in Israel.

Imagine! 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.”

Thank you, Louis and Harold Price Foundation, for your support of families in Boulder and Broomfield counties!