The Adams County Sheriff’s Office will be gave away 3000 free turkeys at Operation Freebird! They also gave away gift certificates after the frozen turkeys were gone. 

When kids fall through funding cracks

Norma Aguilar-Dave, Savio's Executive Director, was sitting in her office on a typical Friday afternoon when she received a phone call from a colleague at a local mental health center.
 
“I’m hoping you can help a fourteen-year-old boy in a bad situation,” the woman began.  The caller sounded exasperated, which told Norma this was a severe situation. 

Norma sat and listened to her colleague go over the background and details, leaning on her experience as a clinical therapist.  Though the teen’s problems were complex, she knew one of Savio’s specialized programs for adolescents was the exact fit.  She accepted the referral, though in the back of her mind she knew there was no funding for this situation. The young teenager hadn't harmed anyone else and had no diagnosable mental illness.
 
The caller continued, “he has some complex problems and has been having violent thoughts.  He’s so bothered by them that he attempted suicide. That’s how we got involved. But I fear we don’t have the right program to help him.”

Norma wasn’t going to wait for the boy to hurt himself or another person before providing help. Within a week, a Savio therapist would visit their home for the first time. Meanwhile, an unexpected check arrived from a loyal donor, causing Norma to smile. Donations provide services despite funding gaps, and this generous gift was coming at the perfect time.

The boy and his family are now doing well having been in Savio’s treatment program for two months into Savio’s program. The therapist helped the boy’s family see the positive that he had not acted on his impulses. The therapist is facilitating conversation between the boy and his family, helping them all understand his thoughts and teaching them how to prevent or redirect them. Like most children who enter this program, he will learn to manage his thinking and it will ultimately be his positive choices that define him.

DLC’s International Eyesight Missions is planning a screening campaign to Senegal in early January. Clinics are scheduled for January 2^nd through the 7^th. There will be time beforehand and afterward for touring around Dakar, where the campaign will take place.

We will be screening needy Senegalese for vision problems and distributing eyeglasses. Our plan is also to conduct eye surgeries, especially strabismus surgeries on young children. We will collaborate with one or more Lions Clubs in Dakar.

In January 2016, we conducted a screening campaign in Thiemping, Senegal, near the border with Mauritania. We worked for 5 days there and saw over 1,000 patients. We distributed 450 pairs of single vision eyeglasses for distance vision and 410 readers.

More details to follow...

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Each December Coloradans come together with the common goal to strengthen the community by helping to power nonprofits. Community First Foundation and FirstBank partner to make this day rewarding for givers, nonprofits and the community as a whole.

This year Colorado Gives Day was Tuesday, December 5, and featured a $1 million Incentive Fund. Every nonprofit receiving a donation on Colorado Gives Day received a portion of the fund, increasing the value of every dollar donated. Colorado Gives Day has grown to be the state's largest one-day online giving event, raising more than $182 million since it began in 2010. 

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