Colorado Gives Day 2019 | Dance Warriors

Colorado Gives Day is our state’s local version of Giving Tuesday. Each year on the second Tuesday of the month, Coloradoans can donate to local non-profits while maximizing their giving power through a $1 Million Incentive Fund. The incentive fund is split between all participating non-profits, based on the percentage of donations they receive. Charity and philanthropy have always been very important to me and I’ve strived to incorporate it into my life and my business as much as I can.

This year, I decided to collaborate with my Dance Warriors! The Dance Warriors project is an artistic response to political and social issues, in collaboration with dancers across the country. Each dancer I work with on this project chooses a social or political topic that is important to them. The session and interview we do together is a response to that topic. For Colorado Gives Day 2019, I asked some of them to choose an organization that relates to their topic.

Colorado Gives Day 2019 | Dance Warriors

Mental Health

Jenny Schiff chose Mental Health Partners which is participating in Colorado Gives Day this year. According to their website, “Mental Health Partners provides expert care to our community. This year, funds raised will support a major suicide prevention education initiative, along with unrestricted contributions that go where there is the greatest need and to outstanding programs, such as Moving to End Sexual Assault (MESA)”. With youth suicide rates on the rise, this work is so important. It is so great to see this organization focusing its efforts on prevention and education.

Sexual Assault

Karlyn Griswold chose The Gathering Place as her non-profit to support. According to their website, The Gathering Place “believes deeply in the power of our community and continually work to make it stronger. Our key values include recognizing individual strengths, building respect and trust, and offering unconditional acceptance. We are not just a service organization; we are committed advocates for our members and promote social justice for every woman, child, and transgender individual in our community.” Here is what Karlyn had to say about the organization “I love that it is a safe space for women to not only get food, medical help, job services, but they also offer art classes, dance classes, yoga, etc. They have a boutique for clothes, a laundry mat, showers, and a nap room.” Here is a link to The Gathering Place’s Colorado Gives Day 2019 page: https://www.coloradogives.org/thegatheringplace/overview

Holistic Health

Andrea Jayne Martin chose to support Greenpeace. She was especially drawn by their project to decrease plastic usage in major organizations, like Pepsi. The goal of this project is to reducing by-product micro-plastic contamination. Andrea said, “I recently learned that micro-plastics have been uncovered in many natural water sources in the US. Have a little plastic with your H2O, America!” Greenpeace’s goal to reduce this type of pollution will have major impacts on our health as well as the health of other animals and the planet itself. Since Greenpeace is an international organization, they are not participating in Colorado Gives Day. They are a wonderful organization to get involved with but if you are looking for local non-profit to support, Inland Ocean Coalition is also working to keep plastic pollution out of our water.