Happy Colorado Gives Day!

Happy Colorado Gives Day!

Colorado Gives Day is an annual statewide movement to celebrate and increase philanthropy in Colorado through online giving. It’s a day set aside from the holiday hustle to give out of the abundance you’ve been given.

As you consider where to donate today, here are five of my favorite charities in the Denver metro area that are worth considering:

1. Fellowship Denver Church. Fellowship Denver Church is a gospel-centered church that is on the cusp of buying its own building. Having a physical presence in Denver is absolutely critical for the Church’s overall mission in the city. Though I don’t attend the church personally, my wife and I have decided to give to their building campaign. (They’re raising $650,000 by the end of the year.) This is on the top of my list to support this Colorado Gives Day.

2. Issachar Center for Urban Leadership. The Issachar Center provides scholarships, tutoring, coaching, and leadership development for college students in Northeast Denver. They’ve had a hand in developing dozens of key leaders in Northeast Denver and have brought urban issues to my attention that I’ve often been challenged by throughout the years. My close friend Scott Lundeen does an incredible job leading here, and each donor dollar makes an impact on the lives of future urban leaders.

3. Mile High Workshop. Mile High Workshop is serving our community by creating jobs for the poor. Here is the ideal mix of economic development, job-training, and giving back to our community. As this social enterprise becomes self-sustaining, it’s well worth your donor dollar today.

4. The Children’s Museum of Denver. I’ve got four daughters. And for eight years now, the Children’s Museum of Denver has delighted and inspired their imaginations. Like the Museum of Nature and Science or the Denver Botanic Gardens, cities are better all-around with institutions that make incredible educational experiences available to the general public. It could be that I just really enjoy the big ball machine (and making enormous bubbles), but I think this is one charity worthy of your support.

5. Project 1.27. With over 700 families trained and 325+ adoptions, Project 1.27 is serving the most vulnerable in our city: children in foster care. I’ve had several friends who have adopted through Project 1.27 who have only had a great experience, and felt a deep hope as a result. Here’s one of the best places to financially support. Give now! And get them one step closer to their vision: a family waiting for every child in the foster care system.

2 Corinthians 8:1-4, 8-9

"And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people...

I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich."