Meeting Minutes Lion's Heart Class of 2022 Meeting Date: 10-13-2017

Meeting Minutes
                        Lion’s Heart Class of 2022
                        Meeting Date: 10-13-2017

General: Mrs. Belcher called the meeting to order at 4 o’ clock pm. The meeting was
held at Carson’s house.

Attendance:
Members present were: Brennan, Ryan, Ethan, Carson
Absent Members were: None

Minutes of the last meeting: No prior meeting so no prior meeting minutes were
approved/amended.

Old Business:

No old business

New Business:

 Officers were elected as follows: President, Carson; Vice President, Brennan;
Secretary, Ryan; Historian/ Photographer, Ethan.

  Due to multiple members wanting to run for the same office, Mrs. Belcher, the class
coordinator, decided who would be elected for a specific position using a coin toss.
This was done for all the positions.

 Mrs. Belcher gave the details on officer training. Officer training must be completed
by next week.

  The members are interested in activities that involve Animals, Arts, Technology,
Elderly, Outdoors, Reading, and Sports.

Members discussed participating in Volunteers of America Rake up Colorado event
Saturday November 11, 9am to 3pm for 3 hours.

 Brennan presented details on several volunteer opportunities which is in a separate
document and attached to the meeting minutes. Members will let Mrs. Belcher know
which opportunities they are interested in and available for.

Next Meeting:
The next meeting will be in January or February 2018.

There being no other business, Mrs. Belcher adjourned the meeting at 5 pm. Meeting
time 60 min.

Respectfully submitted by Ryan, Secretary.

Lion’s Heart Volunteer Opportunities:

Specific Upcoming Events (October & November 2017):
Rake Up Colorado - November 11th: It looks like this is a YES! Please reply with the number of adults/children
that you will be bringing. You will also need to fill out a Volunteers of America Release form (one per family) and a
Parental Release Form (per child) I have attached these forms to this email. Alice, I know this isn’t the best
weekend for you, but please know we are happy to transport Ryan if that helps in any way. Angela, we will plan to
take Ethan with us. If Owen wants to join, we would be happy to have him, too. We may go as a family for this
event (Joe & Grant included). I will request an area closer to us (Westminster, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Broomfield,
Lakewood). Does 10 - 2pm work for everyone?

It looks like the next easiest for 3 of the boys to attend will be the Candy Race on November 12th. I think doing two
events in in a row may be difficult. What are your thoughts?

Heart Hero Race: Ethan needs a late shift. Carson cannot do this one. Brennan needs an early shift. I think this
would be difficult for the chapter to organize, but feel free to pursue it on your own if you want to do it!

Lego League: Ethan is not able to do this one. Alice, can Ryan join this event? Its on November 18th. I am not
sure of our involvement in this one, but we may be able to swing it. Let’s keep this one as a possibility for now.

Ongoing Opportunities
Animals
Canine Partners of the Rockies (all ages):
Make a commitment to raising a service dog for 18 months or just volunteer to babysit puppies when
needed. caninepartnersoftherockies.org

Dumb Friends League (12 and up):
Assist veterinarians, work at special events and help with cleaning and grooming.
ddfl.org

Foothills Animal Shelter
303-278-7575
http://www.foothillsanimalshelter.org

Zuma’s Rescue Ranch
Local horse ranch near Chatfield State Park. Help is needed caring for the horses, crafting Zuma’s Luck Horse
Shoes. Mowing, building gardens & fencing or running special events.
7745 N Moore Rd, Littleton, CO
303.346.7493
https://www.zumasrescueranch.com

Arts
Cherry Creek Arts Festival (16 and up):
Help artists and performers and work in the children’s art area during this July 4th weekend event.
cherryarts.org

Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (12 and up):
Be an usher, greeter or help with stage construction.
csfineartscenter.org

Building and Construction
Extreme Community Makeover (all ages):

Combine efforts with residents of select Denver neighborhoods for home and neighborhood improvement
projects. extremecommunitymakeover.org

Habitat for Humanity (16 and up):
Volunteer for construction, deconstruction and work at various ReStore retail building material sites.
habitat.org

Youth United Habitat for Humanity
Locations vary depending on project
(303) 534-2929 ext.313
www.habitatmetrodenver.org
Habitat for Humanity is a tremendous nation-wide organization with the central mission of building decent,
affordable homes for low-income families. Its Youth United program is designed to get kids ages 5 to 25
involved in this great cause. The younger group will help raise money, assist the crew at the work site and
provide help around the office, while ages 16 and older actually help build homes. This is a great opportunity to
get a few families together to create a group to participate in the Youth United Program.

Computers & Technology
OpenWorld Learning (14 and up):
Find opportunities to teach advanced computer technology to students in Denver.

Helping the Poor/Disadvantaged
Elder Helpers (all ages):
Connect with seniors who need help with household chores, such as cleaning, carrying groceries, making
meals and lawn maintenance.
elderhelpers.org

Volunteers of America – Many opportunities
https://www.voacolorado.org/volunteer

Food Bank of the Rockies (14 and up):
Discover year-round opportunities at “the largest private hunger-relief organization in Colorado.”
foodbankrockies.org

Metro CareRing (6 and up with adult):
Reduce hunger by volunteering for this organization, whose mission is “to provide nutritious food to hungry
families and individuals while promoting self-sufficiency.”
metrocarering.org

Arvada Community Food Bank
8555 W 57th Ave, Arvada, CO · (303) 424-6685
http://www.arvadacfb.org/

Rising Church in Arvada – Feed the homeless
Saturdays and Mondays from 10 – 12noon. Holiday meal opportunities as well.
https://arvadarising.com/foodbank/
7500 West 57th Avenue - Arvada, CO 80002
(303) 422-1174

Food for Thought
During the school week, children from low-income families in Denver Public Schools receive free and reduced
lunches at school. Often the lunch they receive at school on Friday is the last meal they eat until they arrive
back at school on Monday. Teachers and Principals report that many students come to school on Monday
mornings hungry, complaining of stomachaches, headaches and unable to focus and learn.

Food For Thought strives to eliminate this problem by providing a PowerSack to each student to take home for
the weekend.
5130 Durham Ct, Denver, CO
http://foodforthoughtdenver.org/the-problem/
volunteer@ foodforthoughtdenver.org
Jeane Larkins – 303-817-4672

Family Homestead
Help homeless parents create a “home” for their children. Collect personal care items and cleaning supplies
for new families entering Family HomeStead Emergency Housing Program. Help the family set up
housekeeping by providing essential supplies that cannot be purchased with food stamps.
1325 Zephyr St. Lakewood, Co 80214
(303) 623-6514

Child Rescue Foundation
Nationally Recognized Teddy Bear Project, Annual Back Pack School Supply drive, Holiday gift giving
drive.
PO Box 102319
Denver, CO 80250
(303) 628-0477
http://cr-foundation.org/wordpress1/

The Sacred Heart House of Denver
Since Sacred Heart House of Denver is relatively small in size, the best volunteer opportunities for large
groups include making welcome bags with basic hygiene items for residents, birthday bags with cake/frosting
mixes and party supplies for families in our Follow-Up Program or collecting non-perishable food or school
supplies. Groups are encouraged to schedule enough time for a pre-arranged tour when they drop off the
items they collected. Sacred Heart House of Denver is happy to supply a list of items necessary for the
physical operation of the shelter, which include hygiene, medical, cleaning supplies and paper products, for
group collections/drives. These are particularly good opportunities for girl scouts, boy scouts, youth groups, as
well as small businesses, to support their community. For Sacred Heart House of Denver’s complete Needs
List click on the “Needs List” link in the side bar.

Sacred Heart House offers services to single women and homeless mothers with children. The home is always
staffed by volunteers during set hours and families are encouraged to volunteer together. It provides childcare
to residents to allow mothers to attend living skills and parenting classes. Volunteers are encouraged to read,
play games and do crafts with the children. In the family dinner program, families are asked to prepare a meal
at home and bring it in to Sacred Heart at 5:30 p.m. Volunteers are encouraged to stay for dinner.

https://sacredhearthouse.com
email: pa@sacredhearthouse.org

Outdoors
The Bike Depot (10 and up):
Help promote the benefits of biking and get bikes to community members who need them. No mechanical
knowledge required. thebikedepot.org

Snow Buddies (12 and up):
Shovel snow for seniors within 24 hours of snowfall. Volunteers of America matches seniors in Adams,
Arapahoe, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties with volunteers living within two miles of their homes.
http://arvada.org/residents/city-neighborhoods/snow-buddies-program

Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (6 and up with adult):
Perform light gardening tasks, landscaping, trail building and maintenance. VOC provides stewardship
opportunities across Colorado
voc.org

Rake Up – Volunteers of America
Rake leaves to help limited income seniors in your community.
Molly Barfuss mbarfuss@voacolorado.org 303-297-0408

Reading/Books
Children’s Literacy Center (14 and up):
Work with children to improve reading and literacy skills. CLC’s volunteers have a 95 percent success rate for
improving children’s skills. They offer 12-week volunteer sessions during the fall and winter and six-week
sessions during the summer.
childrensliteracycenter.org

Denver Public Library (16 and up):
Volunteer for a wide variety of book-related opportunities. Call the library volunteer office for more information:
720-865-2043. denverlibrary.org

Sports
YMCA (14 and up):
Volunteer with various programs and special events.
ymca.net

Boys & Girls Club (6 and up with adult):
Volunteer in the gym, tech lab, art studio, game room and competitive sports.
bgcmd.org

Denver Dream Center
Volunteer during Adopt a Block and play and serve needy families and their children.
https://www.denverdreamcenter.org/

Special Olympics
Contact, Kate O’Brien, Volunteer and Family Services Manager
kobrien@specialolympicsco.org, 720-359-3130.

Other Service Project Ideas to Research
Children’s Hospital of Colorado

Hope House of Colorado

Ronald McDonald House – Near Children’s Hospital of Colorado

Assisted Living Homes