$110,300 in Osborne Trust grants to charities serving Westside/Ute Pass

$110,300 in Osborne Trust grants to charities serving Westside/Ute Pass

Nov. 26, 2017
       Through the stewardship of a board of trustees from the Garden of the Gods Rotary Club, grants from the Osborne Trust Fund have been disbursed on an annual basis since 1985 to nonprofit groups that aid the needy.
       The 33rd annual awards, totaling $110,300, were presented at a luncheon Oct. 31. A total of 28 entities received monetary help for a broad range of assistance efforts.
       The Colorado Springs Westside is home to three of the recipients: Westside CARES, which provides temporary aid to

Representatives of the entities that received awards from the Osborne Trust in 2017 are (from left), SEATED: Charles Schroeder, Help the Needy; Sandy Kennedy, Little Chapel Food Pantry; Nikki Pfeiffer, Multiple Sclerosis Alliance; Judi and Ken Hesselberg, both with Little Chapel Food Pantry; Kris Carlisle, Prospect Home Care & Hospice; Mittie Pedraza, CASA of the Pikes Peak Region; Paul Foreman, Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation; Natalie Tuscany, Boys & Girls Club of the Pikes Peak Region. MIDDLE ROW: Hayley Suppes, Greccio Housing; Janie Child, Community Cupboard of Woodland Park; Amy Payne and Jodi Mijares, both with Community Partnership Family Resource Center; Paula Levy, DayBreak Adult Day Program; Kristy Milligan, Westside CARES; Val Bertoglio, Assistance League of Colorado Springs; Tiffiny Piper, Diakonia; Ann Salley, Children's Literacy Center; Ralph Power, Teller Senior Coalition. BACK ROW: Patrice Ravenscroft, REACH Pikes Peak; Ashley Brehm, Silver Key; Jennifer Polk and Dick Kaprowski, both with Catholic Charities; Lynne Telford, Care and Share; Ken Norwood, Westside Community Center; Ted Borden, Community of Caring; Dan Nicholson, Village Above the Clouds; Mainor Araya, TLC Pharmacy; Mike Galvin, Village Above the Clouds.

Westside Pioneer photo

people in an area west of I-25; the Westside Community Center, which offers programs, classes, events and a range of services; and Diakonia, a preschool for low-income families, located in the center.
       Organizations applying to the Osborne Trust must show how they serve an area west of I-25, north to the El Paso County line, south across part of the Broadmoor area and west into Teller County. The window for applications is typically in the month of June. For more information, write to P.O. Box 6325, Colorado Springs 80934.
       According to the Garden of the Gods Rotary, the fund was established through the will left by the late Bill Osborne, an Old Colorado City pharmacist who had joined the club in 1951 and served as president in 1960-1961. He and his wife Betty died within a month of each other in 1985. “Having no children of their own, the Osbornes decided that since they had made their wealth on the Westside of Colorado Springs, their money should be returned to the Westside to help the needy,” reads a Rotary written statement.
       The amount that's made available to organizations each year is based on the amount of interest in the Osborne fund. The trustees consist of past presidents of the Garden of the Gods Rotary, each serving in that role for 10 years.
       The following is a list of the 2017 recipients, their locations, their grant amounts and and how they plan to use the money, according to information in the trustees' Grant Awards List:

RECIPIENTS HEADQUARTERED ON THE WESTSIDE        - Diakonia, in the Westside Community Center, 1628 W. Bijou St., $2,500 (scholarships for at-risk preschool children).
       - Westside CARES, 2808 W. Colorado Ave., $25,000 (rent assistance and food purchases for its six food pantries).
       - Westside Community Center, $2,000 (replace flooring in dining room to address a safety issue).

OTHER OSBORNE RECIPIENTS        - Assistance League of Colorado Springs, $5,000 (clothing for needy public school children).
       - Boys and Girls Club of the Pikes Peak Region, Colorado Springs, $3,500 (teach children to make healthy choices).
       - Care and Share, Colorado Springs, $1,500 (backpacks of food to needy elementary school children).
       - CASA of the Pikes Peak Region, Colorado Springs, $2,000 (volunteer training for dependency-neglect program).
       - Catholic Charities - Marion House Life Support, Colorado Springs, $3,000 (emergency services and case management to families with young children).
       - Catholic Charities - Marion House Soup Kitchen, Colorado Springs, $1,000 (meals for needy - 600 a day).
       - Children's Literacy Center, Woodland Park, $1,000 (one-to-one tutoring for kids not reading at grade level).
       - Community Cupboard of Woodland Park, $5,000 (provide food to growing population of needy).
       - Community of Caring, Cripple Creek, $9,000 (food, clothing, shelter, medical, dental and vision).
       - Community Partnership for Child Development, $1,000 (medical, dental, vision/hearing screens for children).
       - Community Partnership Family Resource Center, Divide, $2,000 (meals, childcare during family support programs).
       - DayBreak Adult Day Program, Woodland Park, $2,000 (healthy meals for seniors, scholarships for low-income families).
       - Greccio Housing, Colorado Springs, $1,000 (emergency rent and utility assistance).
       - Habitat for Humanity of Teller County, $2,300 (homeowner education for future Habitat homeowners).
       - Help the Needy, Woodland Park, $6,000 (emergency needs: housing, energy/utilities and medical care).
       - Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation, Colorado Springs, $2,000, (provide water-safety reading materials to children)
       - Little Chapel Food Pantry, Divide, $9,000 (food for needy families in Teller County).
       - Multiple Sclerosis Alliance, Colorado Springs, $7,000 (new classes, medical co-pays and MS-related medical bills).
       - Prospect Home Care & Hospice, Woodland Park, $4,000 (medical equipment, pharmaceutical costs and medical supplies).
       - REACH Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs, $2,500 (food, clothing, utilities and medical prescriptions).
       - Safe Passage (Children's Advocacy Center for the Pikes Peak Region), Colorado Springs, $2,000 (provide forensic interviews with police for abused children).
       - Silver Key, Colorado Springs, $2,000 (Meals on Wheels program for needy seniors).
       - Teller Senior Coalition, Woodland Park, $3,000 (meal deliveries for homebound seniors).
       - TLC Pharmacy, Colorado Springs, $1,000 (medications, screening tools, testing supplies for the uninsured).
       - Village Above the Clouds, Woodland Park, $3,000 (scholarships for seniors so they can stay in their homes).

Westside Pioneer article
(Community: Charitable)

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