Mary Williams Fine Arts Event Photos

The July Mary Williams Fine Arts Quick Draw event was a great success. In all, $4,480 was raised to further Imagine!'s mission.

Thanks so much to Mary Williams for this generous support!

Please enjoy some pictures from the event below.


Imagine! Foundation Board Member David Edwards.




Imagine! Foundation Board Member Colene Van Winkle and her husband Don.



A perfect spot to inspire an artist!

Imagine! staff member Julie Hartman and Imagine! client/sculptor Alonzo Clemons.



Imagine! Foundation Board Memeber Lloyd Streit and his wife Julie.



Mary Williams

Great view, great art!

An artist hard at work.

L-R: Rich Tocher (Julie's husband), Imagine! Foundation Board Members Leona Stoecker and Julie Vlier.

Imagine! Foundation Board Member Rick Nelson and his wife Jackie.

Thank You Thursday

Here is a roundup of donations made to the Imagine! Foundation in the past week:

• A gift of $2,775 from Mary Williams Fine Arts representing 20% of the proceeds from art sales at the Mary Williams Fine Arts Quick Draw event. The sale of chances on the two antique reproduction posters Mary donated for the event brought in $765, and donations made directly to Imagine! from the invitation mailing brought in $940. Therefore, the total benefit to Imagine! from the Quick Draw event was $4,480. Thanks so much to Mary Williams for this generous support!


We would also like to acknowledge those friends of the Foundation who provided in-kind gifts for the Quick Draw event:


• West End Tavern (part of former Imagine! Foundation Board member and longtime Imagine! supporter Dave Query’s Big Red F Restaurant Group) for donating all of the food

• Liquor Mart for arranging the donation of seven cases of wine

• Republic National Distributing Company's Bacchus Wine Division for donating the wine

• Left Hand Brewing Company for donating ten cases of beer

• Sturtz and Copeland for donating all of the flower arrangements

• Kristi Bartleson Stahli for reducing her fee as the harpist for the event

• Morrell Printing Solutions for discounts on the printing of the invitation

• Instant Imprints for printing the Save-the-Date card

Other donations this week included:

• A donation from Bob and Judy Charles to fully cover the remaining harpist’s fee for Quick Draw

• Donations in memory of Margaret Wilson, the mother of one of Imagine!’s clients, from:
1. John and Linda Gathman
2. Helen Hanna and Mary Hanna
3. Herminone Clair Montrowe and her family

• A donation from Imagine! Foundation emeritus board member Kathy Coyne

• A donation from Tom Pretto and Linda Doyle at the 29th Street Live Summer Concert Series event

• $10 in anonymous donations at the 29th Street Live Summer Concert Series event

• $4 from IBM employee payroll deduction

As always, we offer our most sincere thanks to all of Imagine!’s generous supporters.

Congratulations, CivilArts

Congratulations are in order for our good friends at CivilArts, recipients of a Community Appreciation Award from the Longmont Area Economic Council because of their contributions to Imagine!’s Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont. In the photo below, Frank and Deb Drexel, owners of CivilArts, show off their award.

Preparation The Key To Success At Imagine!

There’s a saying among those who work in the field of serving those with developmental disabilities: “If you have met one person with a developmental disability, you have met one person with a developmental disability.”

There is no one single way to serve all the individuals we serve at Imagine!. Every service needs to be flexible enough to meet a wide variety of needs, goals, and desires. Since there is no set template for how services are provided, the real key to success comes from always being prepared.

The story below, originally from Imagine!’s August employee newsletter, about one of Imagine!’s service departments, demonstrates the difference good preparation can make in the lives of some school aged children we serve.

Imagine!’s Out & About department prides itself on providing excellent therapeutic recreation activities to its participants. Therapeutic recreation involves making every opportunity a learning opportunity, so not only are participants encouraged to have fun during an activity, they may also be working on improving their social, communication, safety, or fine and gross motor skills.

At Out & About’s art classes, a large part of the success the participants experience is due to the preparation of staff members before the class. A great example of how to prepare for a class is provided by Alexa Schoeman, the facilitator for art with Out & About’s After School Program and Summer Camp. Alexa is pictured here with Quintin, who receives services from Out & About.

Colette Marie, the Director of Out & About, told us, “I think Alexa's passion for art, and specifically in teaching the kids in our program, is something worth recognizing her for.”

Alexa strives to celebrate what the kids do, and challenges them to develop their talents with new materials, techniques, and subjects. She sends frequent emails to other Out & About staff members so they can be prepared for the classes. Below are some excerpts from one of Alexa’s emails.

“This week we are going to be celebrating the Fourth of July, as well as ourselves and our families with a fun firework activity. The participants will either choose light colored paper and markers or crayons, or dark colored paper and pastels or chalk. Prompt them to first draw a picture of their family celebrating, then add fireworks with glue and glitter, and/or paint blown with straws or squirted from tiny spray bottles. The complete image will look like the participants and their families watching a fireworks display.


Families can look very different for different kiddos, so please let them guide you as to who they want to include in their pictures (pets, friends, grandparents). In that vein, fireworks can look different from person to person, so help demonstrate a firework pattern, but allow them to pour the glue or paint as independently as possible to create how they see a firework. I often notice the participants will say ‘I can’t, will you do it?’ If I walk them through a couple steps instead of jumping in to do it for them, they are able to complete the task independently!


Please encourage doing both the portrait part and the firework part, but if the participant just wants to focus on one part, that’s fine too. Also please be mindful of the glitter as it is super fun to play with, but it’s also expensive! A little bit goes a long way, and please try and shake the extra back into the containers.


Some great things to work on are discussing their subjects, their families, and what that means to them, scale (dad may or may not be drawn bigger than the dog, either is fine, it’s just something to notice), dexterity in use of materials (especially squeezing and drawing with glue), exploring the look of pastels or chalk on dark paper, and, as always, communication with peers in sharing of materials and works.”


Thank you Alexa for demonstrating such dedication to teaching and helping the art classes to be successful by being so well prepared and for helping your co-workers to be well prepared too.

Thank You Thursday

We are so thankful for all of our generous donors. Donations for the past week included:

• A donation from former Imagine! employee Matt Bristol designated for art supplies for Out & About’s After School Program this fall.

• $94 from employees at Océ North America’s Denver office from their “Jeans Day,” where once per month employees may wear jeans to work if they donate $2.00 or more to a local non-profit. Imagine! was the designee last December. The company will also match one-half the donation in the coming weeks.

• Donations from James Davis & Jane Cameron and from Frances Evans in response to the Mary Williams Fine Arts Quick Draw event invitation.
• A donation from the Georgia Boys BBQ Inc. as part of the Tetra Tech fundraising event.

• A donation from Rob and Kitty DeKieffer in honor of Reinhardt and Joel Broszat’s 40th wedding anniversary.

• A donation from the IBM employee charitable contribution campaign.

In-kind donations included:

• Electronic equipment (servers, computers, monitors, etc.) valued at nearly $3,000 from Elevations Credit Union arranged last spring through former Foundation Board member Dennis Paul.

• Two courier trips from Denver Boulder Couriers.

•Clothing and toys for Dayspring families from Annie Arnette.

Happy 48th Anniversary, Imagine!

Imagine! was established August 6th, 1963, by a group of parents determined to see that their children with developmental disabilities had opportunities to participate in the community just like any other child.

Forty-eight years later, we continue to use that original goal as the basis for our mission. We believe in the potential of all. We believe that people with developmental disabilities have much to offer their communities, and that providing the tools and supports that allow the individuals we serve to become contributing citizens benefits us all.

Today, we say thanks to all who have been associated with Imagine! over the years – the clients, the families, the employees, the providers, and especially our generous supporters. What we do at Imagine! is a community endeavor, and we are fortunate to operate in such a welcoming community!

Want to see some examples of Imagine!’s positive impact on our local community? Then check out the variety of success stories on our website.

Thank You Thursday

Here’s the roundup of donations to Imagine! and the Imagine! Foundation from the past week:

• A donation from the Pounds Family Foundation through The Community Foundation Serving Boulder County. Thanks so much to Imagine! Foundation Board Vice President Walt Pounds and his wife, Linda.

• $345 in cash from the Mary Williams Fine Arts Quick Draw event “Buy A Chance on an Antique Reproduction Poster.”

• A donation from Anahid Katchian and Walter Logue in support of Imagine! at the Mary Williams Fine Arts Quick Draw event. Anahid is the person who donated TWO Mediterranean dinners for the Imagine! Celebration this past January.

• Donations from Jayma Jamieson, Elizabeth Barker, Richard and Diane Vandermeer, and  Boulder Stained Glass Studios  in support of Imagine! at the Mary Williams Fine Arts Quick Draw event.

• A donation from CivilArts given to Leona Stoecker by Frank and Debra Drexel, who were unable to attend the Mary Williams Fine Arts Quick Draw event.

• A check from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. representing four additional payments owed to the late Billy Montgomery (an Imagine! client who passed away in 2009 and was the brother of Foundation Board Secretary Jay Montgomery) for his role in “Rain Man” (whenever it airs, he receives a check). Jay recently designated that all future checks be sent directly to the Foundation. Thanks again, Jay!

Thanks as always to all of our generous donors!

Congratulations, Leona!

Leona Stoecker, past president of the Imagine! Foundation Board of Directors and one of the most tireless ambassadors for Imagine! and the people we serve, was recently recognized as an icon of Boulder County by the Boulder County Business Report in a special publication called “Milestones: Icons and History of the Boulder Valley.”

You can see the story below (click on the story to make it bigger).

Congratulations, Leona. We absolutely agree that you are an icon of Boulder County, and the contributions you have made to your community are invaluable!

Thank You Thursday

We missed last week’s update (and changed the title [and day] of this weekly post from “Wednesday Thanks” to “Thank You Thursday” – it rolls off the tongue much better, don’t you think?). So without any further delay, here’s the round-up of the donations we’ve received in the past two weeks:

• $10,000 from the Safeway Foundation

• $1,686.36 for a quarterly payment from those who designated Imagine! during the 2010 Combined Federal Campaign

• A check from the Screen Actors Guild representing several payments owed to the late Billy Montgomery (an Imagine! client who passed away in 2009, his brother is Imagine! Foundation board Jay Montgomery) for his role in the movie “Rain Man” (whenever it airs, he receives a check). Jay recently designated that all future checks be sent directly to the Foundation. Thanks so much, Jay.

• A check representing contributions through IBM payroll deduction

• A total of $405 from donations sent in by people who did not attend last Sunday’s Mary Williams Fine Arts Quick Draw event but who sent checks in support of Imagine!

As always, thanks to all of our generous supporters!

Thank You To Our Retiring Board Members, Outgoing President

Last month, we mentioned in this blog that the new fiscal year brought about some changes to the Imagine! Foundation Board of Directors.

Today, we’d like to say thanks once again to two board members who retired from the board after each completing six exemplary years of service.

Dennis Paul



Dennis Paul was a great asset to the board, serving on various committees, generously supporting the Imagine! Celebration Dinner and Auction through personal table purchases, Elevations Credit Union table purchases, getting auction items, and providing for the very popular live auction “Rowdy Round-Up” cattle drive and Steamboat Springs auction item. Dennis also brought in sponsorships from Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center and tables from EKS&H and Roche Colorado Corporation. Many thanks, Dennis, for all you have done, and continue to do, for Imagine!.

 



Eric Wallace

Eric Wallace was another great asset to the board, and his liquid assets were especially popular! Eric’s Left Hand Brewing Company has provided beer for every Imagine! Celebration and every Foundation event since he’s been on the board. He has also been responsible in securing several Longmont auction items every year, hosting a mini-fundraiser at Left Hand Brewing last fall, and, most significantly, employing Imagine! clients as part of his packaging operation at Left Hand Brewing. Thanks Eric, for the profound impact you have had on Imagine! and the individuals we serve.



Leona Stoecker



Finally, we’d also like to thank Leona Stoecker for serving as Imagine! Foundation President for the past two years. Leona wasn’t just a figurehead, she lived and breathed the position! Leona has spoken to numerous service clubs and groups about Imagine! and has taken people on tours of the Charles Family SmartHome. She keeps the trunk of her car loaded with SmartHome packets, tri-fold informational business cards, Celebration invitations, etc. so that she is always ready to share information about Imagine!. Leona has offered her “Year of Home Baked Bread” for the Celebration’s live auction the last two years. Leona has done a myriad of things to put Imagine! on people’s minds in Longmont and has been an outstanding leader for the Foundation. She exemplifies to the highest degree what we mean by “passion” for Imagine!, and we cannot thank her enough.





Imagine! Volunteers Make A Big Difference

Imagine! is a community-based organization. We were founded by members of our community, we often provide services in the community (as opposed to segregated settings), and we are supported by the community.

That community support is clearly illustrated by the many people who volunteer to help Imagine! meet its mission to provide tools and supports for individuals with developmental and related disabilities so they may live fulfilling lives in their homes and communities.

Imagine! volunteers assist our organization in many ways. For example, in the fiscal year 2010-2011, Imagine! used volunteers for:

Enhancing Services

During FY2011, 44 volunteers spent 4,617 hours working directly with individuals Imagine! serves. Overall, 88 individuals served in these and other non-direct service roles for a total of 5,687 volunteer hours. That is a 19.8% increase in volunteer hours from the previous year!

Committees and Councils

Five volunteers serve on Imagine!’s Human Rights Committee, which safeguards the rights of individuals receiving services by reviewing all investigations of abuse, neglect, or exploitation. Twelve serve on the Family Support Council, which provides parent perspective to Imagine!’s leadership and outreach to other parents. Ten volunteers help to orchestrate the Imagine! Celebration Dinner and Auction, the Imagine! Foundation’s annual fundraising event.

Governance

Imagine! is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of 13 individuals who serve terms of four years with one option to renew. The Board meets monthly and provides both oversight and direction to the organization, guiding its service delivery, financial management, and long-term planning. Four committees (Services, Finance, Executive, and Board Recruitment) meet on a regular basis to provide leadership in specific areas.

The Imagine! Foundation has its own Board of Directors, composed of 22 individuals who serve a term of three years with the option to renew for one term. Their tasks include leading local fundraising efforts and networking on behalf of the organization.

During FY2011, members of these two Boards contributed a total of 1,507 hours of their time to the organization. In addition, 100% of members of both Boards contribute financially to Imagine!.

Many thanks to all of our volunteers – they make a big difference in our ability to serve some of our community’s most vulnerable citizens.

If you are interested in volunteering for Imagine!, click here.

Imagine! and The Hungry Toad – Celebrating 20 Years Together

Since 1984, Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source department has assisted people who have cognitive disabilities 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.

One business that embraced this mutually beneficial relationship early on was The Hungry Toad Pub and Restaurant in Boulder. This year marks the 20th anniversary of a CORE/Labor Source crew working there. Hungry Toad owner Terry Morton (pictured on the right with Imagine! consumer Tim Gray) has been a great advocate of our supported employment program and the people we serve.

When asked why he thinks the long term relationship has been so successful, Terry replied, “The crew is reliable and they do good work. That’s it in a nutshell.”

Thanks Terry and The Hungry Toad. We wish you continued success!

Wednesday Thanks!

Here’s this week’s roundup of donations in support of Imagine!’s mission:

•A donation from TRJ Financial, which was contributed as part of the April World Financial Group event to benefit Imagine!’s SmartHomes.

• A donation from David and Anne Hanson (customers of Mary Williams Fine Arts) who will not attending the July 24 Mary Williams Fine Arts Quick Draw event to support Imagine!, but still wanted to contribute.

• An in-kind gift of flower, vegetable, and fruit plants from The Flower Bin for CORE/Labor Source’s gardening class. Flower Bin also employes Imagine! clients. Thank them when you're there!

• An in-kind gift from John Haertling of HaertlingAwards.com for a more than 50% reduction on 15 board member plaques.

Thank you to all of our generous donors!

Mary Williams Fine Arts “Quick Draw” Event Supports Imagine!

Imagine! is delighted to have been chosen as the non-profit beneficiary of the upcoming Mary Williams Fine Arts “Quick Draw” event on July 24 on the grounds of a beautiful private estate in northwest Longmont.

During the afternoon approximately 40 of the Rocky Mountain Region’s most prominent painters will be challenged to create an original piece of artwork within a 90-minute period. At the end of the 90 minutes, the paintings will be auctioned off in a silent auction in an on-site gallery. Additional paintings from each of the artists will be available for purchase in the silent auction. Twenty percent of the sales of both the “Quick Draws” and the other artwork will go to Imagine!. In addition, Mary Williams Fine Arts will donate two framed reproduction “antique” posters, with all proceeds from the sales going to Imagine!.

Several community members have already stepped up to make donations to the event. Dave Query and the West End Tavern will donate all of the food and catering, Liquor Mart and Vine One will donate the wine, and Left Hand Brewing Company will donate the beer. Save-the-Date cards are being donated by Forrest Fleming at Instant Imprints in Longmont, and Sturtz and Copeland will provide flowers. Kristi Bartleson Stahli, a harpist from the University of Colorado School of Music, will complete the festivities. For more information, contact Mary Williams at 303-938-1588.

Want to get a sense of how cool this event this is? Check out the video below.



Many thanks to Mary Williams Fine Arts for their generous support of Imagine!’s mission.

Wednesday Thanks!

We started the new fiscal year off with a bang! Here’s a roundup of this week’s donations to the Imagine! Foundation:

Donations this week included:

• A grant of $2,000 from the Herbert Parker Trust at Wells Fargo for Dayspring’s Community Calendar Activities program (up from $1,000 last year!)

• $673 from the Tetra Tech Walk/Run to benefit Imagine! (thanks to Foundation Board member Julie Vlier for setting this up – check out this link for photos and more!)

• A payment from Mile High United Way (we received $68.63 total in FY 2011 from those who designated Imagine! through a United Way campaign at work.)

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

Thanks To Our Grant Donors

Imagine! is pleased to have received grants in FY 2011 of $10,000 or more from the Amgen Foundation, the Daniels Fund, the Safeway Foundation, the Western Digital Foundation, and several family foundations.

These grants have been used for our two SmartHomes, other 24-hour-care housing, Family Support Grants, general operating, a new Assistive Technology Lab, and Imagine!’s Out & About Summer Camp.

We are very grateful for the support of our generous community!

Tetra Tech Runs For Imagine!

Yesterday’s Tetra Tech Run for Imagine! was a resounding success! Here’s the report from Julie Vlier, an Imagine! Foundation Board member and the organizer of the event:

The weather was great for the Tetra Tech/Imagine! event yesterday. We were decked out, wearing some super T-shirts, too, thanks to Forrest (Fleming, Imagine! Foundation Board member) and Instant Imprints (see pictures below). All-in-all we received $673 in contributions!

After the event we convened at Left Hand Brewery and Eric (Wallace, Left Hand owner and former Foundation Board member) was kind enough to get us set up with cool beverages and a contribution to Imagine! for the drinks that were sold to our group! We also enjoyed Georgia Boys BBQ, and are planning on another $25 (+/-) from this new Longmont business.

Thanks to all involved, especially Julie for making it all happen. We really appreciate it!

Julie Vlier, Tetra Tech Manager of Water Resources, Imagine! Foundation board member, and the event organizer, is second from left.

Wednesday Thanks!

During the last full week of the fiscal year, we had several generous donations come in, including:

• Generous payments from Bob and Judy Charles and the Charles Family for Imagine!’s two SmartHomes.

• Jay and Kathy Montgomery’s check for the Billy Montgomery Community Room at the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome.

• Micro Motion’s check for $5,000 for its Gold Sponsorship of the Celebration, which will be directed to the Charles Family SmartHome.

• The Boulder Central Optimist Club donated $200.

• The “Transcend $10,000” Imagine! employee donation program contributed $1,357.

• A gift from Foundation Emeritus board member Kathy Coyne.

As always, thanks so much to all of our generous donors!

New Fiscal Year Brings Changes To Foundation Board

The Imagine! Foundation elected four new officers at its Annual Meeting on June 14, 2011. Alexander (Sandy) Bracken was elected President, Walt Pounds was elected Vice President, Jay Montgomery was elected Secretary, and Lloyd Streit was elected Treasurer.


Alexander (Sandy) Bracken



Four new members joined the board of directors, bringing the total number of board members to 22. They are: Charles Holmes, Chris Leh, Rick Nelson, and Valorie Simpson. 



Dennis Paul and Eric Wallace retired from the board after each completing six years of service. Thanks to both for their dedicated service!



Committee Chairpersons for the 2011-2012 year are: Sandy Bracken, Strategic Planning/Nominating; Sue Deans, Marketing; Lloyd Streit, Finance; and Colene Van Winkle and Paige Lawrence, Imagine! Celebration.



Thanks, Tetra Tech!

The good folks at the Tetra Tech Longmont office are sponsoring a walk/run fundraising event for the Imagine! Foundation. The money raised will be directed towards the Charles Family SmartHome in Longmont. The event is next Wednesday, June 29th, at 4:00 PM. The race will begin on the St. Vrain Greenway and end at Left Hand Brewing Company!

Many thanks to Imagine! Foundation board member Julie Vlier for arranging this event, and to Imagine! Foundation board member Forrest Fleming and his company Instant Imprints for donating T-shirts.