As regulars will attest, there’s a much higher purpose to showing up for Say It With Chocolate than availing oneself of the opportunity to gorge on the heavenly sweet.
Every ticket sold and every auction item purchased changes a life. For real.
That’s because proceeds are used to fund an annual trip to New Mexico and Arizona where a carefully chosen group of students from the center’s Joan Farley Academy perform community service at American Indian reservations — and boost their own self-esteem in the process.
“Last year, several of our students hiked all the way to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up,” notes Tami Lack, Third Way’s director of development and administration. “For most of them, it was their first time away from Denver, their first time in a sleeping bag, and their first time completing such a vigorous psychological and physical goal.”
Academy principal Lisa Baylon adds: “Say It With Chocolate is more than just a fundraiser. We use the event as part of our educational curriculum, for students to learn about revenues and expenses, profits and losses, how to write a solicitation letter, how to plan food for a large crowd, how to make phone calls appropriately — all the details required in the planning of a special event.”
The fifth edition of Say It With Chocolate took place Feb. 8 at the Tattered Cover LoDo and raised $8,000. Professional and amateur chefs entered cakes, candies and more to be judged by a panel that included CBS4 anchor Tom Mustin and his daughter, Hailey; William Poole of Wen Chocolates; James Gallo from the Brown Palace Hotel; Amanda Faison from 5280 magazine; and me.
The Tattered Cover not only waived the space-rental fee but donated coffee from its cafe to accompany the plethora of chocolate offerings. Robinson Dairy donated milk, and live music was provided by violinists from the music department of the University of Colorado at Boulder. The young musicians also give their time to teach at Third Way Center.
A list of entrants and winners is posted on my Seen First blog: .
Her mission expands
By teaching them to sew silk jackets sold on the worldwide market, Susan Kiely has helped hundreds of women in India and Thailand break out of poverty. A noble effort to be sure but one that caused some to ask why she didn’t address the economic hardship faced by women right here in Colorado.
She took those questions to heart, and when she spoke at a luncheon last week for sustaining members of the Junior League of Denver, she announced that her Women with a Cause Foundation is finalizing plans for a program that will help homeless women prepare for careers in the nursing profession.
It will include helping the women get into subsidized housing near the schools they will be attending, and providing mentors and child care. Specifics, including details about the April launch date, are at .
