Nonprofit Network, Oct. 30, 2015

FUNDRAISERS

For the 10th year, local law enforcement traded in handcuffs and badges for gourmet burgers and aprons at Red Robin restaurants as part of the national Tip-A-Cop event benefitting Special Olympics. Law-enforcement officers collected tips and help serve Red Robin restaurant guests. The event was held October 24 at 20 Red Robin locations in Colorado, including those in Broomfield, Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont and Loveland.

More than 150 Boulder community members will participate Nov. 12 in the fourth annual Sleep Out for Homeless Youth. Participants will spend the night on the lawn in downtown Boulder between Attention Homes’ office and First United Methodist Church, near 15th and Spruce streets. They have pledged to each raise $1,000 for Attention Homes from friends, family and colleagues through their own fundraising page. Sleep Out is expected to raise more than $150,000 to support Attention Homes’ homeless and runaway youth services.  Attention Homes, a local nonprofit, is the only shelter for youth in Boulder County providing day drop-in services and overnight shelter.

GOOD DEEDS

Bitsbox, a Boulder-based education technology startup that teaches children how to create their own apps, will donate 1,000 coding kits to educators around the world for Computer Science Education Week, Dec. 7-13. After closing a $500,000 seed round in  August, this startup aims to give back by training 1,000 teachers around the globe to run an “Hour of Code” event for 30,000 students.

GRANTS

Colorado State University is one of 10 institutions participating in a $13.8 million government-funded research project to improve sorghum as a sustainable source for biofuel production. Most U.S. biofuels are made from corn, but some sorghum varieties create more biomass for cellulosic ethanol, making it a top contender to replace corn-based biofuels and relieve pressure on an important global food source, according to a CSU prepared statement. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the five-year project will study how plants and microbes interact, and which sorghum plants grow better with less water and nitrogen.

Sunrise Community Health in Evans received a $54,250 one-time award from the Colorado Health Foundation to increase patient portal use at its 10 clinics. A patient portal is an online, secure website that enables patients to access their health-care information and to communicate with their health-care team. Sunrise will use the funds to purchase technology, support patient training material, and invest in translation services.

In honor of the grand opening of its store at 2007 S. Timberline Road in Fort Collins, Big O Tires donated $1,000 to Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity.

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