Our StandUp For Kids – Denver Chapter is incredibly blessed! Although we have a small amount of volunteers, the number of youth we serve every Sunday is huge! We are 100% street based, meaning we have no drop-in center or inside space of any kind. There is no “Plan B” for Sunday dinners if the weather is not favorable or other issues arise. We always meet our youth where they are, which is outside, without a roof or any place to call home. We try to provide some sense of “home” in the most basic sense by providing a consistent presence, a shoulder to cry on, ears to listen and hearts that love them unconditionally, not to mention nourishing food.
A big part of what we do is provide 4 course (mostly hot) meals, every single Sunday, year ’round, regardless of the weather. On these Sundays between 25-90 homeless and at-risk youth (ages 12-24) will be fed. The numbers vary greatly depending on the time of year; during the winter we will see about 25 and once the summer hits, upwards of 80 youth will be coming for a meal and fellowship!
The only way, and I mean the ONLY way that we can do what we do is because of the ongoing, dedicated support of our amazing donors, some of whom we’ve had consistently by our side for 6+ years. I would to say thank you to a few special donors who keep the Denver Chapter up and running:
- Theresa Tese of Comfort Socks has provided youth with thousands of pairs of socks over the last several years, keeping an incredible number of feet warm and dry
- Kathy Fodness has paid our storage for two years in a row and provided a huge amount of “survival gear”, allowing us to breathe a sigh of relief knowing the items our youth need are available to them
- Andeavor Logisitics (formerly known as Tesoro Logistics) held a fundraiser that raised over $16,000.00 in 2017 and provided several hundred bagged lunches for Street Outreach
- Karen Wise, who is always willing to reach out to supporters and get donations, works overtime to sign folks up months in advance that want to provide meals and hangout with the youth
There are too many amazing donors to single out individually. We love and appreciate them all! They truly are our ROCK and the foundation of the Denver Chapter. We’ve always said that we have the best donors in Denver and its taken years of relationship building with them just as it takes a long time to establish those relationships with our roofless friends. It’s definitely a win/win situation for all involved and we are very lucky to have the opportunity to do what we do!