This Year’s Grant Recipients

Recap of the 2020/2021 Community Grant Cycle

The Golden Civic Foundation (Foundation) today announced the investment of $243,732 in grants into the Golden community via four main areas: Community Grants, Special Grants, COVID-19 Community Relief Grants and Critical Needs Services. The grants, which were awarded from April 2020 through April 2021, were provided to 40 different Golden-based non-profit organizations that provide social, civic, cultural and education-based services to Golden residents.

“During an extremely unpredictable and unprecedented past year, the Golden Civic Foundation is very proud to have funded nearly a quarter million dollars to 40 organizations that make a positive impact on our Golden community,” said Sandra Llanes, President of the Foundation.  “We’d especially like to thank our many event sponsors/partners, donors, volunteers and Board members for their role of investing in Golden’s economic and cultural vitality. With their support, the Foundation has been able to affect many important community projects that might not have happened otherwise.”

Since 1970, the Golden Civic Foundation has invested more than $6.5 million for the betterment of the Golden community. 2020/21 highlights include:

Community Grants: 2021 Community Grants totaling $87,504 were awarded to twenty-five Golden non-profits, including cultural, social service, clubs, schools and civic organizations. Examples of support include infrastructure/accessibility improvements at the Colorado Railroad Museum including paved walkways, reading incentive prizes for participants in the Jefferson County Public Library’s Golden Library Summer of Learning program, assistance to Golden residents utilizing the Family Tree Homelessness Program, funding to help create a Foothills Art Center Young Curators program as well as Social Emotional Learning through the Arts (SELA) for Jefferson County educators and students, and, support of the Neighborhood Rehab Project’s emergency home construction projects to keep Golden homeowners warm, dry and safe.

Special Grants: 2020/21 Special Grants totaling $32,885 were awarded to the Foothills Animal Shelter in the form of a matching grant to help build their first-ever, barnyard for homeless livestock (chickens, goats, etc), Victim Outreach Incorporated to help rebuild the Courage Garden Gazebo that was destroyed by arson on October 7, 2020, and, to the City of Golden’s Public Art Commission for one-time maintenance and treatment of art pieces in the City’s extensive indoor and outdoor collection.

COVID-19 Community Relief Grants: This community grant program provided relief to City of Golden community members most critically impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. Over the last year, the Foundation has provided more than $105,143 to 15 service organizations to provide critical needs support including rent, mortgage and automotive repair assistance, food scarcity and local restaurant economic stimulation support, mental health programs for Golden students and schools, and morale boosting meals for the Golden Police Department (benefitting local restaurants as well).

Long-Term Critical Needs Support: Per direction from the Foundation’s founding members, the Foundation continues to provide annual financial support to the Christian Action Guild (CAG), a Golden-based, non-denominational, non-profit food bank and thrift store, run solely by volunteers. In 2020, $18,200 was donated to the CAG for ongoing operations as well as a special grant to help fund the construction of their new awning.

“In 2020 we were constantly partnering and pivoting in an effort to quickly address our community’s most critical needs,” said Executive Director, Heather Schneider.  “As we move forward into COVID recovery, we believe that this type of collaboration with our citizens and community partners will continue to be key. The mission of our Foundation is to protect the special character that Golden is known for, and, as with the past, we will continue to rely on important volunteers and business partnerships to help us keep Golden thriving. Now more than ever, having a sense of community and the common goal of a safe, secure home with local resource support unites us and moves us forward.”