TELLURIDE FOUNDATION AWARDS SPECIAL INITIATIVE GRANT

17 Feb TELLURIDE FOUNDATION AWARDS SPECIAL INITIATIVE GRANT

Telluride Ski & Snowboard Club Receives $75,000 to Build a Year-Round Clubhouse for Local Youth

Colorado Skier of the Year, Keaton McCargo, who is competing on the World Cup Mogul Tour, and Alpine Ski racer and Jr. Olympian Anna Fake, training at the TSSC clubhouse, by Melissa Plantz

The Telluride Foundation Board of Directors approved a $75,000 Special Initiative Grant for the Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club (TSSC) at the Foundation’s recent bi-annual December board meeting. TSSC is a nonprofit organization providing regional youth competitive skiing and snowboarding programs. TSSC is the largest youth organization, in both size and duration of programs, in southwestern Colorado, with almost 300 kids participating in the club. Leveraging an additional $586,289 in additional pledges and donations raised by the club, TSSC’s Special Initiative Grant will help turn the winter season headquarters into an efficient year-round clubhouse, with adequate room to train and learn, by adding a study area, training center, meeting space and locker rooms. The Club received the fifteenth Special Initiative Grant since the Initiative’s inception in 2006, bringing the total awarded in Special Initiative Grants to about $1.2 million.

Special Initiative Grants are designed to allow the Foundation Board to act proactively and support larger or long-term projects such as a capital campaign; real estate purchase; or strategic or innovative new community initiative. Special Initiative Grants are sponsored by board members of the Foundation and presented directly to the Board for consideration.  TSSC’s application to turn the TSSC winter season headquarters into an efficient year-round clubhouse was sponsored by Telluride Foundation Board Members Tricia Maxon, Davis Fansler, and Mark Dalton.

Founded in 1990, TSSC has a long history of providing positive, healthy activities for the youth of this community and has proven to be a leader of youth athletic organizations in the region.  Currently, 295 children actively participate in the club, the largest youth nonprofit organization of its kind in the entire southwest region.  TSSC has a total membership of 900 and hundreds of active contributors and supporters.  The Club mission is to instill and nurture a passion for all snow sports, along with developing character, discipline and desire, which encourages young athletes to reach their highest potential. TSSC is more than just an athletic program, the Club strives to be a support group for members and the youth of the region by setting up structured programs that emphasize safety, discipline, sportsmanship and mountain etiquette. TSSC provides the only extracurricular option for ski and snowboard programs with an emphasis on training and competition. Without TSSC, a huge void in after school and weekend youth athletic participation would exist.

Telluride Foundation’s Special Initiative Grant enables TSSC to build upon their rich history of providing positive, healthy and exciting athletic and educational opportunities for the youth of our community and expand their reach. The new, year-round training facility will be a cornerstone in this community providing a safe and healthy environment where young people can go to train, study, and receive positive inspiration and coaching after school and year-round.   The youth of this community need somewhere to go to engage in healthy, positive activities when not in school. “Currently, Telluride does not have a community center or recreation center in the region, and the kids do not have a safe place to go to participate in healthy, positive activities.  The TSSC clubhouse fills that that extremely substantial void in the community,” said TSSC’s Executive Director, Justin Chandler.

TSSC has completed the first and second phases of a three phase capital campaign by purchasing an additional 880 sq. ft. to expand training space and paying off the special assessment. Once the mortgage is paid off, it will free up funds to create a true year-round training facility for the youth of this community.

“Thanks to the Telluride Foundation and many incredibly generous donors, we are getting close to realizing our ten year vision of creating a true year-round training facility and center of operations for youth athletic activities in Telluride,” said Chandler. “With continued fundraising over the next six months, the TSSC clubhouse will soon become a safe place for local youth and guests to train for their sport, participate in a large number of cross-training activities, meet with coaches, conduct video analysis, study, and maintain their equipment.”

“The Foundation Board was happy to make the Ski and Snowboard Club’s vision a reality,” said Bridgitt Evans, Vice-Chair of the Foundation Board, “We strongly believe in the program and how the TSSC benefits our youth and Telluride community as a whole.  We are proud to support its efforts.”

This Special Initiative Grant follows three other Special Initiatives granted in July of 2012: $10,000 to Palm Arts for remodel of its new dance studio space; $20,000 to the Paradox Valley School for construction of its school remodel, including a community library and stage; $75,000 to Second Chance Humane Society, a “no-kill” animal shelter that services the Telluride region, for its new Angel Ridge Ranch animal resource center. In 2011, Telluride Academy received $75,000 for acquisition of its headquarters and another $75,000 was designated to help build the Gold Run Early Education/Childcare Facility.  Additional past Special Initiative Grants include funding to:  enhance the Telluride and Norwood School Districts’ drug and alcohol education programs; purchase a permanent office space for the San Miguel Resource Center; enable the Trust for Public Land’s acquisition of a conservation easement to re-open public access to Mt. Wilson; complete an Alternative Futures Study of the region, providing projected economic, ecological and community trends; complete the building remodel for the Ah Haa School for the Arts; construct Mountain Munchkins Preschool; remodel the Telluride Adaptive Sports Program’s ski-in, ski-out headquarters; and remodel the Telluride Medical Center’s emergency room facilities. Special Initiative Grants must be sponsored by three Foundation Board Members and are considered at the Foundation bi-annual board meetings.

About the Telluride Foundation:

The Telluride Foundation exists to create a stronger Telluride community through the cultivation and promotion of philanthropy. It is a nonprofit, apolitical community foundation that provides year-round support for local organizations involved in arts, education, athletics, charitable causes, land conservation and other community-based efforts through technical assistance, education and grant making. As a grant maker, the Foundation awards grants to qualified applicants that serve the people living and/or working in the Telluride region for the purpose of enhancing the quality of life within the region. For more information on the Telluride Foundation, visit www.telluridefoundation.org.

Attached Photo by Melissa Plantz:  Colorado Skier of the Year, Keaton McCargo who is competing on the World Cup Mogul Tour, and Alpine Ski racer and Jr. Olympian Anna Fake, training at the TSSC clubhouse.