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!

Congratulations, Leona!

Today we’d like to offer our congratulations to Leona Stoecker, past president of the Imagine! Foundation Board of Directors and one of the staunchest supporters of Imagine! and our SmartHomes project. Leona has been named as a finalist for the Longmont Community Foundation’s “Giving Spark” Award. Whether she wins or not, her spark is invaluable to us at Imagine!.

To learn more about all the great things Leona does for her community, click on the graphic below. The story is from when Leona was 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.” To make the picture bigger so you can read it better, just click on it again.

Thanks Leona, for all you have done for our Imagine!

Thank You Thursday!

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

• $5,000 from Sandy and Sally Bracken for a Gold Sponsorship of the 2012 Imagine! Celebration. Gold Sponsorships are used directly to support our SmartHomes, and this gift will be used to support the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome in Boulder.

• $5,000 from Hannelore Jend of Louisville

• $2,500 from Art and Marion Seder of Virginia in support of the Bob and Judy Charles SmartHome

• An additional donation in memory of Margaret Wilson, the mother of one of Imagine!’s clients, from Rickie Sewell of Missouri

As always, thanks to all of our generous donors.

Knights of Columbus Tootsie Roll Drive Helps Support Imagine! Children’s Program

Imagine!’s Dayspring department’s community calendar activities introduce young children with developmental delays and disabilities and their 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.

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.

Dayspring’s community activities are made possible in part by donations from generous local organizations, including the Knights of Columbus, who have donated more than $41,000 to this program in the past through their Annual Tootsie Roll Drive.

Several Knights of Columbus Tootsie Roll Drives are scheduled locally in the next few weeks. Please consider supporting them. Here’s where you can find them:

Boulder

Saturday, Sept. 24
Safeway, 4800 Baseline Road, 9 AM – 4 PM
Safeway, 3325 28th Street (Iris and 28th), 9 AM – 4 PM

Saturday, Oct. 1
King Soopers, 3600 Table Mesa Drive, 9 AM – 4 PM
King Soopers, 1650 30th Street (30th and Arapahoe Ave.), 9 AM – 4 PM

Longmont

Saturday, Sept. 24
King Soopers, 1611 Pace Street, 2-4 PM
King Soopers, 2255 N. Main Street, 9AM-6 PM
King Soopers, 995 S. Hover Street, 2-4 PM

Sunday, Sept. 25
Safeway, 1632 N. Hover, 9-6 PM
King Soopers, 1611 Pace Street, 2-4 PM
King Soopers, 2225 N. Main Street, 9AM-6 PM
King Soopers, 995 S. Hover Street, 2-4 PM

Thank You Thursday

Donations to the Imagine! Foundation this week included:

• A donation in memory of Margaret Wilson, the mother of one of Imagine!’s clients, from Richard Graham

As always, thanks to all of our generous donors.

Imagine! Artists To Display Work In Longmont

Participants in Imagine!’s CORE/Labor Source art class are scheduled to display some of their artwork at an upcoming Art Show on Wednesday, September 14, from 5:00 – 7:00 PM.

RE/MAX Alliance in Longmont will be displaying consumer art work from Friday, September 2 through the end of the month. The Art Show on the 14th will be held at the RE/MAX Alliance office in Longmont at 900 South Main Street, Suite 100. Refreshments will be provided during the art show on the 14th.

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.

Please stop by RE/MAX Alliance on the 14th, or throughout the month, to support and validate the efforts of the artist/consumers.

Thank You Thursday!

Here’s this week’s roundup of donations to the Imagine! Foundation:

• A donation in memory of Margaret Wilson, the mother of one of Imagine!’s clients, from Kathleen Clark


• $4 from the IBM employee charitable contribution campaign


• An in-kind donation of one courier trip from Denver Boulder Couriers

• An in-kind donation from former Imagine! employee Michelle Wilson of a shower chair, rolling bedside table, walker with wheels and seat, bedrail, and a turntable to assist in getting in and out of a car

• An in-kind donation of beer, water, and ice (plus wine previously donated for the Mary Williams Fine Arts Quick Draw event) from Liquor Mart for the Summer Board Get Together. The Summer Board Get Together was a delightful event where Imagine! Foundation Board Members had the opportunity to get to know one another better, NOT talk about fundraising, and eat delicious food from West End Tavern while watching the sun go down and the moon rise over the mountains.  Thanks to Foundation Board Member Jay Montgomery and his wife Kathy for hosting the event at their lovely home.

The Imagine! Foundation is very grateful to all of our generous donors. Thanks so much!

Photos From 29th Street Concert Series Benefiting Imagine!

On Saturday, August 13, Imagine! was the featured nonprofit at the 29th St. Mall Live Concert Series in Boulder. Imagine! had an information booth, received 10% of alcohol proceeds from 29th St. Mall, and that amount was matched by Boulder Creek Events. A representative from Imagine! also got to speak to the crowd about Imagine!"s services, and most importantly, the people we serve, during the band break.

A large crowd attended the event

Chase N The Dream was the band - and they rocked the house!

Dancing in the streets

Imagine! Foundation Executive Director Susan LaHoda (right) was on hand to share information about Imagine!

Thank You, Safeway Foundation!

Lindsey Carpenter (left), Safeway's Denver Division Public Affairs Manager, presented Imagine! with a check for $10,000 at the Imagine! board of directors meeting on Tuesday, August 30. Joe Hansen (right), an employee of Safeway and a member of Imagine!'s Board of Directors, had written a letter of support to accompany the Imagine! Foundation's original grant application. Imagine! CEO Mark Emery is in the center.

Thank you so much to the Safeway Foundation for its generous support of Imagine!’s mission.

Thank You Thursday!

Welcome to Thank You Thursday! This week’s roundup of generous donations made to the Imagine! Foundation include:

• $1,840 from Motorola Solutions Foundation. This represented matching gifts for contributions made by Imagine! board member Mark Zentner and Mary Dichtl at the Imagine! Celebration in January, as well as monetary support for Mark’s volunteer hours of service to Imagine! during 2009.

• Additional donations in memory of Margaret Wilson, the mother of one of Imagine!’s clients, from:

1. Gary & Crystal Daum (Longmont)
2. Thomas & Debra Hutchinson (Longmont)
3. Jeffrey & Dana Stobbe (Nevada)
4. Catherine Trujillo (Longmont)

As always, thanks to all of our generous donors.

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.