Anchor Center for Blind Children

Having just celebrated its 25th anniversary, the Anchor Center for Blind Children is a non-profit that teaches visually impaired infants, young children and their families, providing hope and a nurturing environment where children can reach their highest potential.

Established in 1982 by a librarian from the Colorado Library for the Blind, the first group of children served by the Anchor Center for Blind Children included six infants who received home visits and four preschool students who were taught in a church classroom. Since then the Anchor Center for Blind Children has served literally hundreds of children from its small, humble facility on the Clayton Campus on the east side of downtown Denver. In this time they have strived to set the standard in early developmental education and support services for young visually impaired children, their families and the professionals who serve them.

As a function of its success and growth over the years, in 2005 the Anchor Center for Blind Children embarked upon a capital campaign to build a new learning facility. A facility that would be a unique teaching facility designed from the ground up for children with vision loss. A facility with sensory elements, such as a garden and playground acoustics, to make learning intuitive even for children who are totally blind. A facility that allows children to "see" the world with all the senses available to them. A facility that is so attuned to the needs of the students that it will with no doubt become a national model for the way in which blind children learn.

Following a successful $7.5 million capital campaign effort, countless meetings and volunteer hours, ground was broke on the Julie McAndrews Mork Building in the Stapleton neighborhood back in late 2006 and is scheduled for completion this September. It will be more than just a new building, it will be a unique teaching tool that will serve to substantially improve the quality of life for Colorado's infants, toddlers and preschoolers with blindness.

If you’re interested in seeing this impressive new facility, please mark your calendars for a Family Fun Festival at the new building as part of the grand opening ceremonies:

What: The Julie McAndrews Mork Building - Grand Opening Family Fun Festival
When: Saturday, September 29, 2007 – 11:00A – 1:00P
Where: 2550 Roslyn Street in Stapleton (Map)

View a photo-chronology of the construction process.

20th Anniversary Denver Polo Classic

Twenty years ago a small group of young businessmen in their mid-20s started the Denver Active 20-30 Children’s Foundation with the mission to raise money for at-risk and disadvantaged youth in the Denver area. That year they hosted the 1st annual Denver Polo Classic that raised $1,200 and donated $600 to two different charities. Since then the Denver Polo Classic has grown to where last year it raised over $280,000. And this year the members of the Denver Active 20-30 Children’s Foundation have set a goal to raise over $300,000.

This summer Denver Active 20-30 is celebrating the Denver Polo Classic’s 20th Anniversary. Presented by Avanade®, the event will be held July 20 - 22. Over the years, this three day event has proven to be filled with exciting entertainment as well as spectacular polo. Set against the magnificent backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, under a signature white tent, patrons and guests of the Denver Polo Classic enjoy exquisite wines and champagnes, a sampling of the region's finest beers and gourmet food from some of the finest restaurants in Denver.

The Polo Classic weekend will kick-off on Friday night with the Capital Grille Black Tie ball—a unique black tie event under 20,000 sparkling square feet of tent. Guests will enjoy a classic evening featuring a dinner, a silent and live auction and “dancing ‘til dawn.”

Saturday will give way to the CollegeInvest® Family Day, where children's activities abound and qualifying round polo matches ignite. The following teams all begin play in a single elimination bracket that carries over to Sunday: Team CollegeInvest®, Team Smith Barney®, Team High Prairie International Polo Club and Team Avanade. Polo enthusiasts and families alike can bring their own picnic basket and spread out on the grass or take advantage of food and drink provided by some great area restaurants, such as Ted’s Montana Grill, Beau-jo’s Pizza, Landsdowne Arms, City Grille, Champps and Good Times. Children under 12 get in free.

Sunday is Smith Barney® Championship Day where Polo fans arrive for these final matches decked out in garden party attire for the crowning of the 20th Annual Denver Polo Classic Championship team! This day is not to be missed by those wanting to take-in a Polo match and imbibe fantastic food from some of Denver’s best restaurants like The Palm, Sullivan’s, The Painted Bench, 5 Degrees, The Cherry Tomato, North, Washington Park Grille and Sambuca’s or just enjoy mingling with friends.

By the time the event concludes on Sunday evening, the Denver Active 20-30 Children’s Foundation hopes to have generated over $300,000 that will be distributed to area children’s charities via a formal grant review process. Many charities vie for these funds through an online application process (da2030.com). In addition to the application, Foundation members conduct extensive reviews with each applicant as part of the group’s grant review process. This process is essential to providing the greatest impact within the community — a subject that members are passionate about as they work tirelessly to raise these funds. Last year Denver Active 20-30 distributed over $700,000 to 45 area children's charities.

Weekend passes and individual day tickets are available at TicketMaster.com.

Denver Kids, Inc.

Denver Kids just celebrated their 60th anniversary last year. The organization began as Denver Boys, Inc. in response to the aftermath of World War II and the growing prevalence of single-parent households. Teenage boys would drop out of school to help support their families when their fathers didn’t return home from the war. In order to combat this growing trend, Denver Boys enabled youth to gain employment while completing their high school educations. By the 1970’s, it became increasingly apparent that female students also were in need of mentoring, counseling, and educational opportunities; hence Denver Girls, Inc. was formed. In 1993, both organizations merged to become Denver Kids, Inc. and the consolidation of the two organizations was considered to be cost-effective and practical due to the many similarities in services, mission and resources.

Today Denver Kids’ mission is to help students, grades K-12, who face the personal challenges of higher risk environments, successfully complete high school, pursue post-secondary options and become productive members of society.

They serve approximately 800 at-risk kids annually. Most of these kids come from single parent homes, live at or below poverty level, and come from under-educated families. However, after being assigned to a counselor and paired with a volunteer mentor, amazing things happen that help ensure these kids stay on the right track. After one-year in the program, school attendance rates improve by as much as 40%. Over 94% of those enrolled in the program advance to the next grade and don’t get left behind by their other classmates. Kids that go through the Denver Kids program have a 20% higher graduation rate than the rest of the students from Denver Public Schools.

So you can see that the organization really does some amazing work. You can be a part of this amazing work and make a difference in one of these kid’s life—become a Mentor. We invite you to learn more about mentoring opportunities with Denver Kids their next Mentor Mixer:

What: Denver Kids Mentor Mixer
When: April 24, 2007, 5:30 – 7:30P
Where: Wynkoop Brewery

If you are interested, contact the Denver Kids Volunteer Director, Penny Stanley at 720-423-8133 or penny_stanley@dpsk12.org.