Member Choice Grants

Members Select Nonprofits to Receive $12,000

4-H Tail Twisters

Tail Twisters is a local 4-H Club based in Fort Lupton, providing hands-on, real-world learning that takes place in the community where youth have the opportunity to develop relationships, skills, and leadership, with a focus on “learning by doing.” The grant will be used to make blankets for nonprofits serving the local community.

Brigit’s Bounty

Brigit’s Bounty offers food to the local community. All food grown at its one-acre Giving Garden in Frederick is donated to community members in need. Its goal is to be a community resource with low-cost youth programs; fresh produce for residents in need; and educational resources about gardening, nutrition, and the environment. 

Erie Food Bank

The Erie Food Bank provides food assistance to those in need in Erie. It primarily supplies perishable and supplemental items that are not received through organized food drives, as well as provides assistance with utilities. Food bank volunteers also prepare holiday meal baskets. 

Graceful Oaks Youth Ranch

Graceful Oaks serves the Weld County community by working with kids and providing trauma informed animal therapeutic services. They also offer the Empowering Youth Leadership Program for teens, helping them build a foundation in leadership, including career and business skills.

Pastor’s Pantry

Pastor’s Pantry is a food pantry operating out of the Whispering Pines Church, providing food and pantry supplies to those experiencing food insecurity in Coal Creek Canyon and the surrounding area. It is open to the public and you do not need to attend the church to receive help. 

Pennock Center for Counseling

Pennock Center exists to fill a gap in mental health services by increasing access to care through the use of a sliding fee scale to determine the cost for counseling services. The center also adjusts fees to meet the needs of those experiencing financial hardship. 

Members Select Six Nonprofits to Receive $12,000

United Power launched Member Choice grants to provide a way for members to put their community knowledge into action — by nominating local nonprofits for grant dollars from the cooperative. The following organizations were selected to receive a total of $12,000 through Member Choice grants in 2022. 

CASA of Adams & Broomfield Counties

CASA is a volunteer-based nonprofit that recruits, trains, and places advocates to represent the best interests of child victims of abuse and neglect who are in the judicial system. The desired result is that children have a safe, permanent home where they can thrive. 

Food for Hope

Food for Hope is empowering and strengthening the future of Adams County communities by providing nutritional assistance to children in need throughout the school year. They operate food banks at school district sites, distribute food bags to students, and provide healthy school snacks. 

Fort Lupton Food and Clothing Bank

The mission of the Fort Lupton Food and Clothing Bank is to provide life-sustaining food and clothing to people in need in and around the Fort Lupton community. Each year, the organization provides assistance to nearly 9,000 individuals.

St. Augustine Food Pantry

The St. Augustine Food Pantry is an agency of the Food Bank of the Rockies serving those in need in Brighton and the nearby surrounding areas. The pantry distributes fresh food, personal hygiene products, and baby products collected from vendors, parishioners, and the Food Bank of the Rockies.

Sparkling Kindness

Sparkling Kindness is a small nonprofit operating out of Commerce City. It provides support to the local homeless population by distributing basic hygiene kits, feminine hygiene kits, and “comfort” kits (consisting of fleece blankets, socks, stuffed animals, coloring books, crayons, and chapstick). 

Canyon Cares

Canyon Cares provides short-term resources to help care for the necessities and urgent needs of residents in Coal Creek Canyon, Nederland, and unincorporated Gilpin County. Assistance includes medical, housing, repairs, and utilities. 

The final round of Member Choice Grants for 2021 have been awarded. United Power is proud to announce Blawk Hawk’s High Country Auxiliary and the Mead High School Band have been selected from nominations submitted by our members to receive grants this round.

The cooperative introduced Member Choice Grants in early 2020, asking members to nominate nonprofit organizations within the service territory they would like to see us help support. The grant nomination process gives members a voice and helps ensure we are supporting causes they truly care about.

High Country Auxiliary

High-Country Auxiliary has existed for more than 50 years to aid and support Timberline Fire Protection District, Gilpin County Animal Response Team, and other emergency service organizations within the district. This includes providing sustenance or purchasing items for first responders or providing scholarships for training classes.

Mead High School Band

The Mead High School Band takes great pride in offering a variety of performing ensembles, including an inclusive percussion ensemble for students with intellectual disabilities. The band seeks to balance performances in educational settings and festivals with performances in the Longmont and Mead communities.