Oh sure, everyone’s a hero these days.
How often have we heard someone mutter those words with a sarcastic edge to their voice?
The jaded among us would have changed their tune had they been at the Adam’s Mark the other night for Colorado UpLIFT’s annual fundraising gala. Starting with presenting sponsors Mark and Melissa Grosvenor and continuing on with the adults – both volunteer and staff – that mentor the hundreds of inner-city children whose lives are channeled in positive directions each year, true heroes were everywhere.
Student Angel Williams provided graphic testimony to the crowd that filled the hotel’s Plaza Ballroom. “Instead of being out on the streets and fighting people, or at home arguing and fussing with my family, I was hanging out with my UpLIFT teacher, doing activities. And that kept me out of trouble,” she said. “Now I’m disciplined, my attitude is good, and my anger is controlled. I don’t hit, curse or stab my teachers anymore. Basically I was a hell-raiser and now I am making positive changes in my life and my community.”
With that, she retrieved two sprays of red roses from behind the lectern and bounded off the stage and into the arms of her mentor for a long hug.
Another UpLIFT student, Paul Michael Rael, was moved to tears when he was given the Accenture High Performance Scholarship.
Kent Hutcheson founded Colorado UpLIFT 24 years ago as a way to give urban kids from less-than-ideal circumstances a chance to reach their potential by forging long-term, life-changing relationships with responsible adults.
Dick Saunders, chairman of the UpLIFT board, paid tribute to his predecessor, Bill Pauls, who had served in that post for the past eight years.
The gala raised $425,000 – $54,000 of which came from the live auction of items that included a Harley, a Jackson Hole ski vacation and a Palm Desert golf outing. Beverly Karns, a friend of longtime UpLIFT supporters Chaz and Susan Mueller, won the raffle drawing that gave her the choice of a Ford F-10 pickup, a Ford Mustang convertible or $25,000 in cash, all compliments of Longmont and Freeway Ford.
Others supporting the cause: Diamond Sponsors Renee and Steve James; Jerry and Marty Berglund; Dick and Carol Lewis; and Scott and Ellen Robinson, whose Argonaut Liquors partnered with National Distributing Co., Pinnacle and Summit distributors and Southern Wine and Spirits to provide the wine served at a tasting prior to dinner.
Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jdavidson@denverpost.com. She also has a daily post at denverpostbloghouse.com/davidson.
