Nonprofit Network – July 8, 2016

BRIEFS

Friends of the U.S. 36 Bikeway, a community cycling program that launched on June 1, is looking for volunteers to lead rides for each community along the U.S. Highway 36 corridor between Boulder and Westminster, participate in biannual bikeway clean-ups and interface with businesses and local governments on the issues affecting bicyclists on the corridor. The newly launched program falls under the umbrella of 36 Commuting Solutions and was established to promote bike commuting on the route through community-led efforts. The program convenes cyclists, governments and businesses to address the issues that affect cyclists and provide viable, long-term solutions, while introducing, promoting and preserving the newly opened bikeway.

FUNDRAISERS

Classical Revolution Northern Colorado, an organization of classically trained professional musicians, held its Second Annual Strictly Tango Gala on July 1 at Club Tico in Fort Collins. The goal was to raise money to match a Fort Fund Grant for a series of children’s concerts this summer called “Melody of Our Landscape.”

Boulder-based Glutino and Udi’s raised $10,500 during May for the Celiac Disease Foundation to help drive celiac disease and gluten sensitivity diagnosis, treatment and research for a cure. Campaign donors received rewards including t-shirts, hydro flasks and Lululemon pullovers.

Fort Collins-based Black Bottle Brewery, CooperSmith’s Pub and Brewing, Fort Collins Brewery, Funkwerks, Horse and Dragon Brewing Co., Jessup Farm Barrel House, McClellan’s Brewing Co., New Belgium Brewing Co., Odell Brewing Co., Old Colorado Brewing Co., Pateros Creek Brewing Co. and Three Four Beer Co. are tapping their resources for “The House That Beer Built II,” a collaborative community initiative with Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity to build a home in partnership with the Beavers family. The goal is to raise $100,000 for the Beavers family home. Each brewery will fundraise through various events through August and will build alongside the homebuyers. Go West T-shirt Co. donated the shirt and printing for the project. The Moot House hosted a matching fundraiser during May, while The Farmhouse hosted “Chicken & Givin’” and donated proceeds from its fried chicken platters. Mishawaka Amphitheatre donated $1 from every concert ticket during June. Other benefit events included a June 21 Arcade Tap Slam at Pinball Jones, a June 22 patio party at Illegal Pete’s, and Bowling with Brewers, on June 23 at Chippers College Lanes. Wilbur’s Total Beverage will match donations in July, and Townsquare Media will support the project with fundraising events and public service announcement throughout the project.

Fort Collins-based Houska Automotive held a free Garage Band Event on June 18 to raise funds for Redeemer Lutheran Church’s K-9 Comfort Dog, Cubby.  The goal was to raise $15,000.

The Human Bean held a Guest Barista Day on June 9, with 10 percent of sales generated at its location at 1822 S. College Ave. in Fort Collins to benefit Project Haiti for an orphanage in Desire, Haiti. The Human Bean sponsors a 14-year-old girl, Nimrode, from the orphanage.

GOOD DEEDS

The Elevations Foundation awarded $48,000 in scholarships on May 23 at its annual Celebration of Community at the Longmont Museum. The 20 scholarship recipients are 2016 graduates of Boulder Valley, Jefferson County, Poudre, St. Vrain Valley, Thompson, and Weld RE-4 school districts. Award criteria is, in part, needs-based.

GRANTS

Rob and Lola Salazar donated $500,000 toward the construction of the University of Northern Colorado’s Campus Commons project. The gift comes through the couple’s Denver-based Salazar Family Foundation, which works to encourage Colorado students to achieve their educational goals. Campus Commons is a $73.6 million project that will serve as a gateway to the campus, a support hub for students and a showcase for UNC’s music and musical theater programs. The building will include a 600-seat performance venue, a 400-seat multiuse auditorium, an art gallery and a student-run café. Campus Commons is to be located south of the University Center, near the intersection of 11th Avenue and 22nd Street. Construction is slated to begin in the fall and take two years to complete. UNC has committed to raising $12 million toward the project. State funding of $38 million and bonds backed by student fees will also pay for the building.

Longmont-based First Nations Development Institute, a 35-year-old nonprofit group that works to boost Native American communities, received a $475,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation to launch a nutrition-education project. First Nations will use the money to run a culturally based “Nutrition Education for Native American Communities” project through 2017 and focus on 30 Native communities participating in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations, also known as the commodity food program.

Two Colorado State University researchers who study tiny organisms and their roles in viruses and cancer received awards that will fund three years of research for their laboratories. Rushika Perera, an assistant professor of virology in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and Tim Stasevich, an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in CSU’s College of Natural Sciences, each received $225,000 Webb-Waring Biomedical Research awards through the Denver-based Boettcher Foundation.

To mark its June 30 grand opening at Village at the Peaks in Longmont, Sam’s Club awarded a total of $35,000 in grants to local organizations — including $25,000 to the Longmont Humane Society for its Well Pet Clinic. Other organizations receiving grants included Colorado Friendship, HOPE for Longmont, Longmont Startup Week and Meals on Wheels.

After a month of sales, Boulder-based Polar Bottle gathered $2,684.76 in revenue from online sales of its limited-edition Pride bottle to donate to a Pulse Nightclub victims’ fund. The 24-ounce bottle emblazoned with a rainbow graphic, was not intended as a fundraising item when the company launched it June 1. Instead, the limited edition bottle was meant to celebrate the start of Pride Month and — for the first time publicly — show the company’s solidarity with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Soon after the shooting at Pulse in Orlando, Fla., that left 49 people dead and scores injured on the morning of June 12, the company arranged to donate all bottle sales to victims, and their families, through a fund set up by LGBT civil rights group Equality Florida.

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