In these times of relative prosperity, it’s easy to lose sight of the hardships that many in our community experience.
As we cherish holidays with family, hundreds of hungry people struggle each day to find nourishment. Thousands cannot afford even the most rudimentary medical care. Many have no place to call home, no warmth without the help of charitable agencies.
It is those agencies that need our help now.
During the past 14 years of the Season to Share campaign, Denver Post readers have been amazingly generous. Last year, more than 6,000 donors gave more than $1.2 million to the campaign, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation. Along with the foundation’s $500,000 in matching funds, a total of $1.79 million was awarded to 62 local charitable agencies.
We know we can better that amount. This season, the foundation will match — 50 cents to the dollar — all moneys collected, meaning the campaign could distribute more than $2 million to local organizations in 2008. The Denver Newspaper Agency and the foundation pay all costs, so 100 percent of the funds godirectly to the charities.
The money is crucial for Inner City Health Center.
In Colorado, the number of uninsured, if lined up shoulder to shoulder along Interstate 25, would stretch from one end of the state to the other. That’s an image not lost on Paul Dunne, the executive director of development for the center.
Inner City Health records more than 20,000 patient visits each year. “Basically, we lose $62 for every patient that walks in the door,” says Dunne. Only through donations is the center able to serve so many people. “We are the safety net for the safety net.”
Food Bank of the Rockies also knows about helping those who might otherwise go unnoticed.
Kevin Seggelke, president and CEO of the agency, calls donations from the Post-News Season to Share campaign the “lifeblood of what we do.” The organization procures and distributes food to more than 700 agencies in Colorado and Wyoming.
The $50,000 the agency received last year enabled it to pick up more than one-quarter million pounds of food, which, in turn, was enough to make 200,000 meals.
The Post is proud to be part of this annual campaign and a community of loyal readers who never let those less fortunate remain invisible for long.
Gregory L. Moore Editor, The Denver Post
