Nonprofits – February 2017

BRIEFS

Pathways, a northern Colorado nonprofit specializing in end-of-life and community care, was recognized by the Alzheimer’s Association of Colorado as a leader in dementia care.

FUNDRAISERS

SPONSORED CONTENT

How Platte River Power Authority is accelerating its energy transition

Platte River Power Authority, the community-owned wholesale electricity provider for Northern Colorado, has a history of bold initiatives.

With $805,904 in funds allocated to the community in 2016, Longmont-based Left Hand Brewing Co. and the Left Hand Brewing Co. Foundation reported more than $2.9 million in donations since 2008. Team Left Hand is an active participants in Bike MS, a two-day, 150-mile bike ride to raise funds and awareness for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The team has nearly 500 riders, including 21 employees, cycling thousands of miles across Colorado, Ohio, Texas, South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida. This year, TLH hit the $2 million mark in funds raised for MS since 2008, raising $633,643 alone in 2016. The foundation also partners with High Five Events, which hosted 30,000 attendees at Hops+Handrails, Leftapalooza, Longmont Oktoberfest and Nitro Fest, raising a combined total of more than $92,379. The 2016 event proceeds benefited SOS Outreach, Chill, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley. In addition, Left Hand funded $61,882 in retail value of in-kind donations to local charities, including a benefit beer for Drink for Pink and fundraising with Longmont Gives Day and more than $18,000 to support organizations that help to support military men and women.

GOOD DEEDS

Vaisala, a Finnish firm that specializes in environmental and industrial measurement, donated a new, C-band radar to Colorado State University. The radar uses dual polarization to locate precipitation, calculate its motion and intensity, and determine the type of precipitation. Smaller and easier-to-deploy than other radars, the C-band radar will help CSU researchers and students further explore pursuits around extreme weather in places they have not been able to make measurements before because of transportability.

GRANTS

Panera Bread donated more than $1.7 million in products as part of its Day-End Dough-Nation program and more than $114,000 in monetary donations throughout 2016 to Colorado nonprofit organizations. Local donations in 2016 included three through customer donations: $7,500 to Food Bank of the Rockies, $17,000 to Care and Share Food Bank and $9,000 to Community Food Share. It also donated $2,500 to the Care and Share Turkey Drive, equivalent to 250 turkeys; $5,000 to Rocky Mountain Cancer Assistance through the Pink Ribbon Bagel campaign; $5,518 to community schools and nonprofits through Panera’s fundraiser dinners program; $27,809 in Panera meals and gift cards to community organizations; and the equivalent of more than $1.7 million in day-end product to local food banks and soup kitchens. About $303,000 in fresh product, day-end product and fundraising dinner events was donated in 2016 in Larimer, Weld, Boulder and Broomfield counties. Some of the recipients include Community Food Share, Larimer County Food Bank, St. John’s Food Bank in Longmont, B Strong Ride benefitting the George Karl Foundation and Boulder Community Health Center for Integrative Care, Rocky Mountain Cancer Assistance, the Superior Chamber of Commerce, High Plains Elementary School, Coal Ridge Middle School. Boulder Fairview and Longmont high schools, Boulder County Head Start, Boulder Humane Society, Bethlehem Lutheran Church and University of Northern Colorado Best Buddies.

A team of researchers led by the University of Colorado Boulder secured a $1.3 million grant from the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy to use lasers to detect and monitor emissions from natural-gas storage facilities across the United States. The CU Boulder researchers will team up with scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, in Boulder, the University of California Davis and Boulder-based aircraft operator Scientific Aviation to measure emissions. The teams will use a ground-based laser system based on Nobel-prize-winning technology invented at CU and NIST.

A national network focused on preparing and retaining 100,000 K-12 STEM teachers by 2021 awarded a grant to a collaborative project between the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley and the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. The $140,000 grant is one of 10 announced by 100Kin10 as part of the Early Childhood STEM Learning Challenge that seeks to boost education in science, technology, engineering and math. The funding will support Partnerships for STEM Identity: 3 Populations of Active Learners, or PSI3.

First National Bank in Fort Collins issued a request for proposals for its upcoming community-development grant cycle, focused on programs related to stable housing, strong local economies and vibrant neighborhoods. Programs run by nonprofit organizations must be implemented for the benefit of low- or moderate-income individuals, families and/or communities within First National’s footprint. The bank has 24 retail branches along the Front Range, including multiple locations in Fort Collins, Boulder, Greeley, Loveland, Longmont and Broomfield.