Post-News Charities Awards $350,500 in Grants

Post-News Charities Awards $350,500 in Grants

DENVER, April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Post-News Charities, a fund of the McCormick Tribune Foundation, today awarded $350,500 to six metro-Denver nonprofit agencies that positively impact children, youth and literacy.

Agencies receiving Post-News Charities grants are the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Denver Public Library, Mental Health Association of Colorado, National Sports Center for the Disabled, Summer Scholars and Volunteers of America.

Throughout the year, Post-News Charities raises money through special events and event partnerships with local nonprofit agencies. All funds raised, as well as matching funds from the McCormick Tribune Foundation, are given to charitable organizations in the metro Denver area through a grant process. In 2004, more than $1.2 million was distributed.

"These are outstanding organizations doing great work in our community," said Tracy Ulmer, director of promotion and community relations for the Denver Newspaper Agency, who distributed the grant checks during a luncheon earlier today. "We are proud to be able to provide such significant funding to these meaningful programs."

Following are brief descriptions of the organizations and programs being supported by the Post-News Charities grants:

The Colorado Symphony Orchestra fulfills its mission of being "a great orchestra playing great music for great audiences in a great city" by presenting a wide variety of symphonic performances from classical repertoire to contemporary composers. In addition to presenting a 42-week season of more than 100 performances, the Symphony also offers 18 youth concerts, along with in-school programs and introductory programs designed for preschool students. This grant supports the Symphony's outreach to disadvantaged children and families through concert-based activities and in-school programming.

In 2003, more than nine million books and other library materials were checked out of the Denver Public Library system -- more than one-third by or for children. This grant supports the library's purchase of nonfiction books for youth and students. The books purchased will include materials in English, Spanish and other languages, on subjects as varied as history and natural science. These books support the curricula of schools and aid teens in completing homework, reports and research. The materials also support the needs on home-schooled students as well as dropouts seeking self-education.

The Mental Health Association of Colorado recently celebrated its 50th anniversary as Colorado's leading educator and advocate on metal health and mental illness issues. MHAC focuses on providing, free of charge, mental health education, training, advocacy and treatment services for young children, adolescents and their families. This grant supports the Association's education programs, which include Mental Wellness School Fairs in which MHAC provides students and school staff education and information on various mental health issues such as eating disorders, depression, suicide and bullying.

For more than 30 years, children and adults with disabilities have looked to the National Sports Center for the Disabled for encouragement and hope. They take to the ski slopes, rivers, trails and cliffs to learn more about mountain sports -- and themselves. With specially trained instructors and its own adaptive equipment lab, the NSCD offers recreational opportunities in 20 sports to children and adults with almost any physical or developmental disability. The Sponsor an Athlete program provides scholarships, which this funding supports, to hundreds of participants.

Summer Scholars is a community-based literacy initiative designed to improve the reading skills of struggling elementary school children in Northeast Denver. In addition to their award-winning six-week summer literacy and recreation program, Summer Scholars has implemented services at several schools in which students participate both in the summer program and an after-school tutoring component. In 2005, this organization will serve 900 under-achieving elementary school students at 19 Denver Public Schools.

From rural America to inner-city neighborhoods, Volunteers of America provides outreach programs that deal with today's most pressing social needs. VOA has been providing services to people in Colorado since 1896. This grant will support the Brandon Center and Rainbow House. Brandon Center is a 24- hour emergency shelter for women and children who are victims of domestic violence and Rainbow House is a daycare program that provides services to children with HIV/AIDS or who live in families where a member has the virus.

The mission of the Denver Newspaper Agency's community relations division -- Post-News Community -- is to improve the quality of life through support of programs that benefit children, arts and culture, education and literacy, and the provision of basic human services. Post-News Community accomplishes this through the implementation of various community-giving programs including Post-News Charities and Post-News Season To Share, funds of the McCormick Tribune Foundation; sponsorships by The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News, and the DNA ACTS (Denver Newspaper Agency Assisting the Community Through Service) employee volunteer program.

Source: Denver Newspaper Agency

CONTACT: Jim Nolan, Director of Communication, +1-303-892-2900, or cell, +1-303-981-3356, jnolan@denvernewspaperagency.com, or Kristin Stork, Community Relations Manager, +1-303-892-2928, kstork@denvernewspaperagency.com, both of Denver Newspaper Agency

Web site: http://www.denvernewspaperagency.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: Photos available upon request.

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