[Coagdu] FW: Happy Holidays!

Tue Dec 22 02:05:59 UTC 2015

Melissa R. Green and Pj

Inside every guide dog beats
the heart of a puppy raiser.

From: Dan Burke
[mailto:dburke at cocenter.org] 
Sent: Monday, December 21,
2015 11:54 AM
To: CCB
Subject: Happy Holidays!

Message from the Director 

We at the Colorado Center for
the Blind appreciate your
support!  As a result of
Colorado gives day we raised
over $20,000.  These funds
will make it possible for us
to serve more kids this summer
in our Confidence camp and
will also provide us with
funds so that we can meet more
seniors who are losing their
vision and show them that they
can still enjoy their lives
and be independent.  

Our message got out to the
Denver Metro area as we also
appeared on 9News the morning
of December 8 in seven
segments with the National
Sports Center for the
Disabled, showcasing our
students and staff running the
NSCD Moves obstacle course, as
well as working in the shop
and talking about seniors.

There are so many ways that we
receive support from all of
you from financial assistance
to telling others about the
center so that they can find
the training, confidence and
community  that they need to
move forward in their lives.  

We wanted to share a slice of
the holiday season at the
Colorado Center with all of
you!  Watch this short holiday
greeting on YouTube from the
choir our students formed this
year, and read the rest of
this newsletter for a taste of
what this holiday season has
been like at the Center.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=GfJa7nvx51M

Remember, with a positive
attitude anything is possible!

Again, I cannot express how
much your support means to all
of us!!   

Julie Deden

Executive Director

Colorado Center for the Blind

303-778-1130 x210

Fax:  303.778.1598

www.cocenter.org

Holiday Season at CCB

The holiday season is always a
busy time as well as a family
time, and it's no different
with our Colorado Center for
the Blind family.

While many were preoccupied
with Cyber Monday, we brought
in our tree and decorated it
in the meeting room.  Cookies
were baking in all three ovens
in the kitchen.  Even Travel
Instructor Steve Patten donned
a red apron to help out.
Meanwhile, out at the front
desk, Robert solemnly presided
over the drawing of names for
the Secret Santa exchange, as
he does each year.

One of the most popular
activities every year is led
by Senior Services Director
Duncan Larsen - she teaches
any who want to try how to
string popcorn and
cranberries, which of course
encircle the finished tree -
though not so much as half of
the popcorn popped gets onto
the tree.  It's a mystery
where the rest goes.

In December there are always a
number of graduations.  This
of course means big graduation
meals, the bittersweet "so
longs" to friends and mentors,
but it also means that we're
out and about anywhere in the
Denver Metro area for Monster
Route parties.

The Monster Route consists of
going to four places never
visited before in four Metro
cities, and this year two of
Vicki's sites are hospitals,
where she'll deliver toys,
coloring books and crayons to
the children's wards.  All the
items are from donations from
the Center and others - $225
in total!  Every year Toys for
Tots has a box in our lobby
for us to fill, and they've
already whisked it away.

Our staff and students always
give of themselves each year.
Tragically, our student
Yasin's mother was killed in a
car accident over the
Thanksgiving break, and his
17-year-old sister spent a
week in the hospital.  Though
only 23 himself, he is now the
guardian for his sister and
12-year-old brother.  Our
students and staff members
have contributed nearly $1000
to help Yasin and his
siblings, and there is a
GoFundMe page for Yasin
<https://www.gofundme.com/mira
cleforyasin>  as well.

Baking, baking baking!
Cookies, brownies, fudge and
more!  Students prepare and
bake all manner of special
holiday treats for a week
after Thanksgiving.  Then they
are arranged on platters and
wrapped in colorful  foil and
delivered to the Cities of
Centennial and Littleton as
our token of thanks - we love
our community and they repay
us with affection and respect!

There are also plenty of youth
and senior activities to which
Independence Training Program
students give of their time.
This year a group of students
formed themselves into a
choir, for example, and they
led Christmas carols at the
annual Senior Holiday party on
December 11.  The next day was
a FAST Saturday (Fun
Activities and Skills
Training) for youth, and many
students were there as
volunteers, along with a
number of staff members and
even CCB alums.  The kids did
crafts, wrapped gifts and
baked cookies.

Oh yeah, somewhere in the
middle of all this is at least
one more party - the NFB of
Denver Chapter party attended
by many CCB students,
including a white elephant
exchange and more carols, not
to mention holiday eats.

We manage to get a little
exercise to counteract all of
this food, in case the reader
is worried.  The Urban
Adventures program with the
National Sports Center for the
Disabled (NSCD)
<http://nscd.org/>  had our
students going out for boxing
and 

Progresh
<http://progresh.com/>  fun,
not to mention the NSCD Moves
obstacle course.  In fact,
some of our staff and students
were seen on 9News
<http://www.9news.com/> , the
local NBC station running the
course on Colorado Gives Day
<http://www.cogives.org/> .
We also had yoga and cardio
dance classes once a week
after the regular school day.

And suddenly it's Friday and
the final holiday breakfast.
The Secret Santa excitement
has been building for three
weeks by now, with the fun of
giving and the excitement of a
surprise enlivening each day.
Students have been preparing
breakfast burritos and baked
French toast and a lot more,
freezing them since
Thanksgiving.  Sometime after
9 everything is set out for
our last gathering of the
year.  We have a brunch buffet
with the tree lit and the
final Secret Santa gifts piled
beneath.  A couple of elves
call out names from the
packages, gifts are opened one
by one, and recipients get
three guesses at the identity
of their Secret Santa before
the secret is revealed.

All this takes a couple of
hours, and then it's time to
clean up and - alas - take
down the tree and pack up the
decorations and make a final
round of hugs and holiday
wishes before students head
back to the apartments or the
airport, and staff leave for
our own Christmas breaks with
our "other" families, or to
finally get started with the
rest of our holiday shopping.

". and to all, a Good Night!"

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