The Lake County Community Fund is embarking on a four-year endowment campaign, called the Campaign for Lake County, to raise $400,000 to secure a strong, sustainable future for the residents of the greater Lake County communities.
The Fund also announced today the campaign’s first gift, a $200,000 challenge donation from Copper Mountain Resort to support Lake County, Colorado, including $100,000 over four years to support the Lake County Community Fund endowment, and $100,000 over four years to support youth-oriented nonprofit organizations dedicated to outdoor adventure education and lifelong alpine sports development, as well as environmental causes, through the Community Fund’s grantmaking program.
“We are extremely honored for our campaign to be jumpstarted by the transformative gift from Copper Mountain,” says Kate Bartlett, LCCF board president. “Copper’s commitment to supporting and promoting its broader community is evidenced not only by this wonderful example of corporate philanthropy but also by the numerous efforts they have underway at Copper, from new employee housing offerings coming online to their ongoing partnership with Colorado Mountain College and other non-profits in Summit and Lake counties. Through the Campaign for Lake County, we hope to inspire others around a common cause to support a thriving community in Lake County.”
Lake County is an integral part of our regional Colorado community; without a thriving and participatory Lake County, Summit and Eagle County economies cannot continue to grow and develop as they do now. More than 67 percent of the Lake County workforce (3,092 people) are employed in Summit and Eagle Counties. Specific to Copper Mountain, a POWDR mountain resort located in Summit County, more than 200 of Copper Mountain’s 1,500 employees are residents of Lake County.
“Lake County residents are critical to the greater region’s success,” said Leadville Mayor Greg Labbe. “Through the Campaign for Lake County and this initial gift from Copper, supporters are giving back to Leadville and Lake County in immeasurable ways. Through its focus on supporting grants that will develop a love of outdoor adventure and protect our natural environment, Copper is setting a new bar for what it means to support worker communities, and we are very grateful.”
“We recognize how important Lake County and Leadville are to our success and we’re proud to be the leading supporter of the Lake County Community Fund’s Campaign for Lake County,” says Dustin Lyman, president, and general manager of Copper Mountain Resort. “We believe quality of life is connected to the well-being of the community and are pleased to aid local initiatives consistent with our corporate responsibility commitment to Play Forever by protecting the environment and enabling participation in the adventure lifestyle.”
The Lake County Community Fund serves 7,778 community members in Lake County by providing a new source of nonprofit funds to support local programs, projects and assets. Individuals who wish to give to a charity that supports the Lake County community can contribute to the fund and know their donation is going to a trusted source. Leadville and Twin Lakes nonprofits can apply for grants through the Fund to further their missions which includes the arts, environment, education, youth, health, community development, and more.
The Copper Mountain Resort challenge gift includes $50,000 in annual, one for one matching contributions to the Lake County Community Fund, over a four-year period, beginning in 2019.
A portion of the gift will go to support the Lake County Community Fund endowment, a permanent fund to support sustainability for the Lake County community. Another portion will be dedicated to supporting Lake County nonprofit organizations focused on outdoor adventure education and the development of lifetime sports skills, in addition to environmental initiatives.
Criteria for these grants will be announced before Spring 2020, at which time Leadville and Twin Lakes nonprofits will be able to apply for grants to further their important missions.