Post-News Season to Share, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, gave $1.79 million to 62 agencies last year serving children, the hungry, homeless and those in need of medical care. Donations are matched at 50 cents for each dollar; 100 percent goes directly to the agencies. To make a donation, see the coupon in today’s paper, call 888-683- 4483 or go to .
By 11:30 a.m. on a freezing Wednesday, a line of Denver’s homeless stretched around the corner and down the block at a downtown church. Generally silent, they queued up for a hot meal, likely their only meal of the day. At the head of the line, students took names of those arriving to eat.
“We try to make it something more than a soup-kitchen experience,” said John Love, executive director of Capitol Hill Community Services for 15 years.
Trinity United Methodist Church on Broadway is just one of five sites where Capitol Hill Community Services provides a midday meal — more than 50,000 a year.
“It’s to help them get back on their feet. And they do,” Love said. “Most people here are poor. Sure, there’s a little substance abuse, some mental-health issues.”
During the school year, sixth- and seventh-graders from Kent Denver School volunteer on Wednesdays.
On this day, the Kent Denver School basketball team served 200 homemade turkey dinners complete with trimmings. Kent parents cooked 32 turkeys; the 78 apple and pumpkin pies were baked at school by students.
More than 80 percent of the food served year-round is donated.
The agency is seeking funding from this year’s Post-News Season to Share campaign.
There is no menu; the cook serves what’s on hand. In the kitchen, Shelly Occhipinti pop ped a tray of sweet potatoes into the industrial-size oven.
“She’s a real magician,” Love said. “She makes the most wonderful meals out of things other people throw away.”
Love said the program has a 60 percent turnover rate.
Some of the homeless simply move on, others obtain jobs and a place to live. “I know some get jobs because they’re pleased to come back and tell us so.”
A retired banker, Love oversees the secular group’s $203,000 annual budget.
Over turkey, Jamie Johnston, an engineering student who suffered severe brain damage in a car wreck, said he is no longer able to work and enjoys the CHCS meals often. “They’re always warm, nutritious and well-balanced meals. It’s civil, too.”
Todd Schayes, a sixth-grade teacher and varsity basketball coach at Kent, has been part of the CHCS program for 15 years. “We talk to the kids about why people are homeless,” Schayes said. “Illness, drug addiction, lack of family support it’s a great eye-opener.”
Twenty years from now, Schayes said, his basketball players won’t remember their wins and losses for the season, but they’ll remember doing meaningful volunteer work for those in need.
Capitol Hill Community Services
Address: 1420 Ogden St., Denver
In operation since: 1992
Number served last year: 54,000 meals
Staff: 1 full time, 2 part time
Yearly budget: $203,000
Percentage of funds directly to clients/services: 100 percent
