Denver Business Journal – by Mark Harden 
5/1/2009 

The foundation of U.S. Bancorp — parent of U.S. Bank, with 153 Colorado branches — has donated $214,200 in a recent round of grants to several metro Denver nonprofits working in the areas of affordable housing, artistic and cultural enrichment, economic opportunity and education.

Funds went to Mercy Housing Colorado, Northeast Denver Housing Center, Rural Community Assistance Corp., Colorado Ballet, the Colorado Historical Society, Su Teatro, the Denver Asset Building Coalition, Metro Volunteers, Mi Casa Resource Center for Women, Seedco Financial Services, Aurora Public Schools Education Foundation, Children’s Museum of Denver, Girl Scouts of Colorado and Girls Inc. of Metro Denver.

Meanwhile, Denver U.S. Bancorp employees also boosted their giving to Mile High United Way (unitedwaydenver.org) by 16 percent this year.

KEEPING FAITH WITH NONPROFITS: JVA Consulting LLC, which advises nonprofits on fundraising, leadership and other matters, is distributing $200,000 in grants to 31 Colorado faith-based and community nonprofit organizations serving adults 55 and older in its role as intermediary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Compassion Capital Fund.

Nine Denver-area charities are receiving the grants: Confluence Ministries, High Five Plains Foundation, Life Quality Institute, Presbyterian Church of Broomfield, Ratna Prison Initiative, Summit Cancer Solutions, Volunteers in Action, Washington Park Cares and Zion Senior Center. The grants will be used to strengthen the capacity of these organizations to serve seniors.

PRODUCERS HATCH DONATION: The Colorado Egg Producers Association donated an estimated 194,000 eggs to Food Bank of the Rockies (foodbankrockies.org) for distribution to Colorado food services.

PICTURE THIS: The Cunningham Fire Protection District in Centennial is receiving $5,000 from Van Gilder Insurance Corp. and Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. toward the purchase of a thermal-imaging camera and community education materials.

COUPONS LEAD TO TASTY GRANT: Good Times Restaurants Inc. has raised $33,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (jdrf.org) by selling coupon books offering deals on Good Times burgers as well as Pepsi and Dr Pepper drinks.

WORKING FOR PLAY: Some 50 employees of KinderCare Learning Centers spent April 23 at Denver Children’s Home (denverchildrenshome.org), making roughly $20,000 worth of improvements to playground areas. The volunteers worked on a rock climbing wall, a new “safe fall” zone, soccer fields, drinking fountains and signage.

Companies donating materials to the project included ABF Freight Systems, D&D Purple Mountain Landscaping, King Enterprises, Rubberecycle, Rockwerx, Stanley Convergent Security Solutions and S & S Worldwide.

A POWERFUL GIFT: The Denver School of Science and Technology (scienceandtech.org), offering middle- and high-school students a tech-focused curriculum, has installed a 1.1-kilowatt solar-electric panel array, thanks to a donation from Wells Fargo & Co. to a Bonneville Environmental Foundation (b-e-f.org) energy program.

COORS FOUNDATION CAN DO: COMPA Ministries (compa.org), which distributes food to 200 hunger-relief programs in the Denver area and also helps homeless and low-income people become self-sufficient, is receiving $50,000 from the Adolph Coors Foundation to support its job-training program.

The grant supports COMPA’s vacuum-seal packaging operation and a canning facility that’s about to open.

HOW MUCH IS THAT MARKETING PLAN IN THE WINDOW: Cranium Studio is donating a brand research, development and marketing plan to Freedom Service Dogs (freedomservicedogs.org), which trains dogs from shelters to help people with disabilities.

AWARDS FOR GOOD WORKS: Holly Wells, a teacher at Denver’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College (mlk.dpsk12.org), has been selected by the National Civic League as one of 25 winners nationwide of the 2009 MetLife Foundation Ambassadors In Education award.

The winners are being recognized for leadership in building bridges between local schools and communities; each will receive a $5,000 grant for their school at a local award ceremony. Wells has raised thousands of dollars for her school as well as recruited students for an annual 5K run and helped to organize camping trips for her mostly inner-city students.

MillerCoors will received the 2009 Celebration of Achievement Community Award from Family Tree (thefamilytree.org), which helps families and youths overcome child abuse, domestic violence and homelessness, for the company’s support of the Wheat Ridge-based nonprofit.