When the need for food in rural Jefferson County (Jeffco) nearly tripled earlier this year, Mountain Resource Center stepped in, distributing more than 300,000 pounds of food to over 1,114 households. In a similar spirit of community support, Bright by Text, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting healthy child development, is partnering with pediatricians, researchers, and early childhood experts to provide free, evidence-based information to families, helping them foster nurturing relationships, improve school readiness, and ensure children grow into healthy, happy, and successful adults.
Colorado Gives Foundation recently awarded nonprofits more than $2.3 million in grant funding to support their work to help communities thrive in Jefferson County.
Essential Needs: Food Access
Thriving is difficult when basic needs go unmet. Colorado Gives Foundation granted $1,240,168 to support nonprofits providing fresh, nutritious, culturally relevant, and locally produced food.
Grantees include:
Authentic Life Church’s Open Arms Food Bank
Bondadosa (Barton Institute for Community Action)
Christian Action Guild, Inc. Food Pantry & Thrift Store (CAG)
Evergreen Christian Outreach (EChO)
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
Integrated Family Community Services
Light of the World Catholic Parish in Littleton
“The real impact of [this grant] cannot be overstated. For our community, food is medicine. We are grateful for Colorado Gives Foundation’s dedication to improving the health and stability of the communities we serve.”
Mandy Louis, director of development for Vivent Health
Economic Prosperity: Bright Futures
Recognizing the critical link between quality early childhood care and future professional success, several Jeffco nonprofits dedicated to strengthening families through early childhood and family care, education, and training have been awarded a total of $401,775. This funding underscores the importance of laying a strong foundation for bright futures and economic prosperity by investing in early childhood education.
Grantees include:
Catholic Charities and Community Services of the Archdiocese
Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition
Executives Partnering to Invest in Children
Explore and Discover: A Reggio Emilia Infant and Toddler Care Center
Jefferson Center for Mental Health
Nebula Early Childhood Collaborative
Additional grants totaling $683,500 were made to support thriving communities.
Grantees include:
The Arc – Jefferson, Clear Creek and Gilpin Counties
Arvada Chamber of Commerce
Apex Park and Recreation District
Colorado Community College System Foundation
Jefferson County Public Health
Fundraising Support for Nonprofits
In addition to its grantmaking work in Jeffco, Colorado Gives Foundation serves nonprofits and donors across Colorado by investing in free digital fundraising, donor services, giving funds and endowments. With the support of the Schlessman Family Foundation, Colorado Gives Foundation selected 100 nonprofits on ColoradoGives.org to participate in the second year of its Level Up Digital Fundraising program, providing valuable training at no cost to help them build digital fundraising skills. The free program helps nonprofits leverage strategy, technology, and skilled volunteers to grow the nonprofits’ capacity and raise funds year-round on ColoradoGives.org. Since ColoradoGives.org was created in 2007, more than $650 million has been donated to nonprofits through the platform.
