8 DEC 15 | colorado gives day

Today is Colorado Gives Day. If you haven’t given yet, please visit the site right now and make a donation!

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For the first time ever, I asked each member of our team to select an organization and WORKSHOP8 made a $100 donation in their honor to each one.

Melissa chose Karis Community

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Untreated mental illness is one of the prime causes of homelessness in our area. In addition to working towards creating more affordable housing like we do, I believe offering suffering people a place to regain their strength and independence is another way to ensure more people sleep in their own homes each night. 

Kate chose Boulder Food Rescue

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I initially thought about donating to a medical fund because of how many lives are affected by health issues. Then I thought, “what can causes health issues?” Nutrition plays a huge role in the health of many Americans and proper nutrition can prevent many issues that medicine is trying to treat. Fresh fruits and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet, but unfortunately they can be more expensive than unhealthy food and hard to keep on hand because they are perishable. Boulder Food Rescue picks up perishable foods that would have gone to waste and delivers them to communities in need, mainly by bike. BFR focuses on sustainable practices, reducing food waste, and providing access to healthy foods for 33 organizations and low income housing.  

Marcel chose Longmont Humane Society

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For years the pit bull has been used in dog fighting. The reason they are so well-suited for this is because of their fierce loyalty and drive to please their owners. This loyalty is also what makes them great family dogs as they become integrated into the family who adopts them.

Because of dog fighting, pit bulls have a stigma as a dangerous dog and have become difficult for animal rescue organizations to find homes for. Not only does the Longmont Humane Society provide education to the public about this bullied breed, but they are one of the few humane societies who work with pit bulls rather than turn them away or euthanize them.

Donating to the Longmont Humane Society ensures that they can continue the amazing work they do for pit bulls who so desperately need the help of us humans who were so instrumental in giving them the bad reputation they have.

Emily chose Bridge House

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Maslow’s Humanistic Theory of Personality states that people achieve their fullest potential by moving from basic needs to self-actualization. Out of the 5 tiers necessary to achieve our fullest potential, housing falls into the second tier “Safety.” Until we have the safety of home, we cannot move on to the next levels. Bridge House works hard to provide Boulder County’s homeless with shelters for the soul, so that we can move forward as a community to live fulfilling lives. 

“Everyone rich or poor, deserves a shelter for the soul.”- Samuel Mockbee of the Rural Studio in Hale County, Alabama

Shawn chose The Catamounts

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The arts are an important part of life. The Catamounts performances speak to the mind, body and spirit in a very accessible way. This exceptionally talented group provides quality entertainment in Boulder and Denver. Support of The Catamounts helps insure these opportunities are presented to our community, and most importantly, to our children.

Chelsea chose The American Cancer Society

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It seems like everyone you meet has been affected by cancer in some way or another, I have had many family members and friends fight cancer. The American Cancer Society not only funds cancer research, but also provides helpful services to cancer patients and their families, including rides to and from treatment centers and lodging for patients who need to travel to treatment, as well as programs that educate the public on cancer prevention and screening.

Ivan chose Community Cycles

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Just like us, here at WORKSHOP8, Community Cycles has a passion for all things on two wheels powered by sweat and joy. Community Cycles recycles and refurbishes donated bikes and bicycle equipment and then sells them back to the community at very affordable prices. Additionally, they educate the community by conducting bike safety and repair workshops. Community Cycles is all about putting people on bikes and promoting biking as a sustainable means of transportation. (Sustainability also just happens to be one of WORKSHOP8’s eight core values!)

Joseph chose Habitat for Humanity of the Saint Vrain Valley

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Lisa and Greg Langer’s house was destroyed in the floods of 2013. WORKSHOP8 is honored to be a part of their rebuilding efforts and Habitat for Humanity of the Saint Vrain Valley is critical component of these efforts. We designed a new house for the Langers and Habitat is building it. On December 3rd, WORKSHOP8 closed shop for the day and the entire crew worked with Dan Northcraft and his staff on site. We did some framing, sheathing, insulating, air sealing, set up scaffolding, and prepped the roof trusses which were to be set the following day. It was a great learning experience; in fact many of our staff used power tools for the first time! We highly recommend taking a day off to volunteer. It was nice to get out of the office and be able to work with an organization that is doing really meaningful work.

I chose Longmont Housing Development Corporation

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We are so very proud of the work we get to do for housing authorities. We are currently working on two senior housing projects for the Longmont Housing Development Corporation. You may remember I bragged about what good clients they are in our last blog post. I’m happy to be able to make this donation to help in a small way to support the great work they do.

I hope hope you’ll take a few minutes to make a donation to an organization you support.

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Brandy is busily preparing for her art opening (and Joseph’s birthday celebration) one month from today! For more info about the show, check out her portfolio page and our Facebook page.

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